


Forget Me Not

by Starlenia



Series: You, and Me. [2]
Category: Miraculous Ladybug
Genre: Angst and Fluff and Smut, Angst with a Happy Ending, Battle, Death, Drama, F/M, Fighting, Fluff, Fluff and Angst, Fluff and Smut, Romantic Fluff, Thriller, Training, War
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2017-01-05
Updated: 2018-07-18
Packaged: 2018-09-14 22:18:45
Rating: Explicit
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings, Graphic Depictions Of Violence
Chapters: 13
Words: 23,345
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/9205652
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Starlenia/pseuds/Starlenia
Summary: Our heroes are faced with a choice, fight- or give up. Sometimes fighting means that you have ally with people that you never would have thought of before. Are Marinette and Adrien ready for what awaits them?





	1. Unexpected

**Author's Note:**

> Hi! Thank you all for sticking with me! This fic has turned into one hell of a ride. Buckle up, and have fun!

Marinette was shaking as she pulled her arms through the shirt that she had worn the day before. Her phone call with Chat had been short, and hadn’t explained nearly enough. He had never sounded that way before. Never. Not in the face of an Akuma attack. Which, by the sound of the fear in his voice- there had to be something wrong. He had assured her that he would be at her house as quickly as possible. But… Never… Never, had Chat Noirs voice trembled and cracked. Not with fear. Marinette felt sick to her stomach. She didn’t know what was going on, and she hated that. She wanted to transform and run to meet him. But he had told her to stay at her house, that he would come to her. Not even five minutes had passed, but her racing heart told her that it had already been an eternity. 

What could be wrong?

_ What could possibly be wrong? _

If it was an Akuma attack, then Chat wouldn’t have told her to stay put. He would have wanted her with him. Wouldn’t he? He would have told her to be careful, but he wouldn’t have commanded her to stay at her house. So, what was it? What was wrong? What was going on?! The thoughts screamed throughout her mind, bouncing off of each other in an anxious haze of thought. 

Chat was usually calm. 

Too calm. 

His voice never broke on the phone. 

Why did his voice break like that?

_ Where is he? _

When would he be back?

_ Why isn’t he back already? _

Marinette tugged her pants on, and checked her phone again. 

No new calls or messages. 

The bluette took a deep breath, and walked over to her bedroom door. Chat had told her to stay home, he hadn’t told her to not leave her room at all. She needed to walk to clear her mind. Maybe grab some tea, talk to her mother, or father…. Something that would put her in a better place. She hadn’t gotten to talk to them about her date yet. She was sure that they would want to hear. They had been excited for her to be going out with Adrien. They liked him a lot. She liked him a lot too. 

Everything had been going so perfectly up until this point. 

Before Chat had called her and worried her out of her mind. 

The news might even have something to say on the matter. Whatever it was that Chat wasn’t telling her. Just knowing what was going on would clear her mind a little bit. So, she opened her door and began her descent down the stairs and into the kitchen. The television was on, which meant that someone had to be awake, watching it. Sure enough, she could see her father’s form on the couch, watching some sort of action movie. 

“Papa!” Marinette called out, walking towards him. “Can we put on the news for a minute? Alya said that--” The closer she got, Marinette realized that his form was slumped. The hulking man’s head leaned to the right of his body, and his eyes were shut. His arms fell easily to his sides, one holding the remote loosely. 

_ He must have fallen asleep watching the show.  _

Marinette smiled to herself, and reached over to gently slide the remote out of her father’s hand, trying hard not to wake him. She was successful, and began to flip through the channels until she finally landed on the news station. 

“Live” Marinette breathed, watching a desk with two sleeping broadcasters at it. Well, if it was affecting people like this… Whatever was going on… Must be the reason why the broadcasters were asleep. 

_ Some kind of sleep Akuma?  _

Marinette frowned at the television, searching the screen for some kind of hint as to what was going on. The news that scrolled under the broadcaster’s desk was mundane, and nothing even hinting at an Akuma attack. So… What could it be? Marinette flicked to the next news station, and the one after that until she saw it. 

Something very unusual in the background of a news office. 

Flames. 

Marinette’s eyes went wide. What was going on? Why were there flames? Why were there no people to report the news? What had happened, and when? 

“Papa,” Marinette turned to her father, placing the remote down next to him as she sat down with him. She shook the tall man gently. “Papa, wake up.” Nothing. 

_ What? _

The bluette shook the man one more time, before she realized that he wasn’t going to wake up. Dread pooled in her stomach. “Papa?” She called again. “Mom!” She stood up, backing away from the couch. “Mom! What’s going on?” She checked her parent’s room, but she wasn’t there. “Mom?” Marinette called again, beginning to open every door in the house, until she found her way back into the kitchen. 

“Marinette-” The voice belonged to Tikki. Marinette swung around, searching for her friend only to find her standing on the countertop. “She’s down there.” The Kwami’s voice was quiet and dull, her face betraying a whirlwind of emotion. Marinette’s heart stuttered, but she quickly moved to the place where Tikki was pointing, and found her mother sprawled out across the floor. 

“Mama!” Marinette gasped, ducking down and pulling her mother off of the ground. The woman, like her father, was not responsive to Marinette as the bluette attempted to wake her. She was quiet, and cold. It made it even more terrifying to realize that her mother was cold to the touch. The woman was breathing, thankfully, but very slowly. 

“Tikki…” Marinette said, her voice trembling with the horrible anxiety that threatened to consume her. She wanted her friend, her Kwami, to tell her that everything was going to be fine. They were going to defeat the Akuma like they always did, and everything would be fine. “Tikki, what is going on?” The Kwami’s eyes were downcast, thin lips pursed. It looked like there was something that she knew, but wasn’t telling Marinette. What was it? “Tikki.” Marinette said again, trying to steady her voice. It was no use, her voice was quick to betray her fear. “Please tell me what you know.” 

“I….” Tikki began. “I don’t think…” 

Marinette’s phone began to ring. 

“It’s Chat.” She said, answering the phone call. 

“MARINETTE WHERE ARE YOU?!” Chat’s voice hissed through the phone. The boy sounded thoroughly panicked. 

“Downstairs.” She responded. 

_ Click _

The sound of Chat’s footsteps running down the stairs that lead up to her room only caused her own anxiety to peak. She stared in the direction of the noise, watching Chat run down them until he caught her eyes and his eyes widened. He was staring openly at the sight of Marinette holding onto her mother. 

“Oh god, Marinette--” He closed the distance between them, never taking his eyes off of Marinette’s. “Marinette…” He breathed again, wiping tears that she didn’t know were there off of her face. “Is she…” He began, looking down at Sabine. Marinette shook her head. 

“No. Thankfully. No, she’s just… Asleep…” 

“Asleep?” Chat repeated the word, looking completely confused by the idea. 

“Yes. My… My dad too.” Marinette felt her voice break. 

“I…. I’m sorry.” 

“I don’t know what’s going on….” A small hiccup escaped her lips, bringing more tears with it.

“Let’s get your mother to the couch?” Chat offered, reaching for Sabine. 

“I can do it.” Marinette said, stopping him. “I’ll bring her over.” Carefully, the girl lifted her mother from the floor and began to walk her towards the couch. Sabine was heavy, but years of superhero fighting and gym training on the side had given Marinette enough strength to be able to pick her mother up and walk her the small distance. Even in her current emotional state. At least Sabine looked peaceful, sleeping like that. 

“Don’t worry mom…” Marinette said, gently placing the woman down beside her father. “We’ll fix this…” She arranged the two of them, until she was sure that they could be comfortable in their positions, and then backed away from the couch. 

Whatever Hawkmoth had done this time… 

They needed to fix it, and quickly. 

“Marinette…”  The voice of her partner brought Marinette out of her thoughts. Adrien had de-transformed, and was standing in her kitchen with a sullen look on his face. “Come here.” He said, not quite looking at her. Marinette did that, standing in front of him, and then wrapping her arms around him. 

“We’ll fix this.” She said, nuzzling her face into his shirt. “We always fix it.” 

She felt Adrien’s arms tighten around her. He took in a deep breath, and dropped his face into her hair, shaking his head. She could hear him swallow. 

“The Eiffel Tower is collapsed over the city. Half of the city is in ruins, like. Like some kind of bomb went off, and… Marinette, there aren’t any Akuma floating around trying to find us.” Her partner’s voice broke into a small sob.

“What?” Marinette’s head was spinning. “What do you mean?” She tried to get away from Adrien’s grip on her, but he was latched onto her. The man was shaking. “Adrien.” She said. “ADRIEN!” She pushed him away, staring at his red tear stained face. “What…. What do you mean…?” His green eyes widened, more tears welling and falling away with his rapid blinking. His eyebrows were knitted and his jaw was clenched. 

“This isn’t the work of an Akuma…” The voice that spoke came from Plagg, as the small black Kwami stepped onto the counter beside Tikki. 

“What…” Marinette’s heart stuttered. 

“It’s not an Akuma Marinette.” Tikki said, finally looking up at her. “There are no Akuma’s out right now.” If those words didn’t shatter Marinette’s world, then she didn’t know what would. It felt as if everything around her was moving in slow motion- as if the walls of her mind were dripping and melting away.  _ Not an Akuma _ . She repeated in her head.  _ Not an Akuma _ . That meant that whatever had happened to the city had happened for real. For real? No going back? No fixing everything? 

“Tikki….” Marinette gulped. “What do you…” Her voice broke once again, this time it was swallowed by sobs. “Oh god…” She cried. “The city…” Her breaths were quick and shallow, not allowing her enough air to properly breathe. “Oh god…” She fell to the ground, not registering the arms that tried to catch her. 

“Hey, hey...” The usually soothing voice of Adrien Agreste was now nothing more than buzzing in her ears. Her entire skull was ringing with the sounds of her own sobs, and the frantic whirling of her mind. “Marinette.” Adrien said, wrapping his arms around her and beginning to rock her. “Shhh, shhh.” He stroked her hair, and she could feel his own body shaking beside her. He was scared too. He shouldn’t have to be comforting her like this… 

Oh god this is all my fault…

Marinette couldn’t help but think that, over and over. 

If they had been on patrol… 

If they hadn’t been messing around… 

If they hadn’t been….

If they hadn’t….

The thoughts only made her sobs louder, and her shaking more intense. She couldn’t breathe, and she hated herself. She hated every last inch of herself. Her mind screamed at her for not giving away her Ladybug miraculous to someone more deserving. How could she possibly think that she deserved to be the hero of Paris? Someone else would have been better. Someone else wouldn’t have distracted Chat Noir away from his job. Someone else could have saved Paris… Someone else could have--

“Marinette.” Tikki’s voice brought her out of her thoughts for a moment. “We have to get to Master Fu, he will explain what is going on… Please… Don’t blame yourself… Either of you. This isn’t your fault… It’s… You’ll understand when we get to Master Fu’s.” The Kwami touched her cheek, smiling sadly, but encouragingly at her. 

“Tikki…” Marinette sobbed. “Will my parents be okay?” The Kwami nodded. 

“They’re sleeping. It’s a power from the turtle miraculous… They’ll be asleep until this is all sorted out. Everyone who has been affected will.”

“Who has been affected?” Adrien asked, his voice booming in Marinette’s ear. Tikki frowned. 

“I assume that everyone who isn’t a miraculous holder has been--”

Adrien’s phone began to ring. 

Slowly, the boy let go of Marinette. 

“Who…” Adrien dug around in his pocket until he had his phone in his hand. His eyes widened, and he looked at Marinette. 

“Who is it?” Marinette asked, watching her partner stare at at her and then at his phone. Slowly, he answered the call.

“Father?” He asked, his voice strained. 

Marinette could hear the response on the other line, the clear and distinct voice of Gabriel Agreste. But… How could he be calling? She watched Adrien with wide eyes, and then shifted to look at Plagg and Tikki who were also staring openly at the Adrien’s phone. 

What was going on? 

She looked at Adrien once more, and noticed how utterly terrified he looked. 

“Adrien?”


	2. Gabriel Agreste

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> These chapters are going to be really inconsistent. Sorry guys. I'll update when I can do it, and as much as I can. Thanks for reading!

For some reason Marinette thought that it would be helpful to the situation to gawk at Adrien and his phone. It certainly didn’t help at all, that. Her shocked and confused expression made things much, much, worse. It almost looked like she were searching for answers, and Adrien knew that he didn’t have any answers to give. Why was his father calling him? Why was his father awake, in the midst of all of this?  _ Why _ ? Wasn’t everyone supposed to be asleep, in the wake of all of this disaster? Hadn’t Tikki just said that everyone who wasn’t a miraculous holder was going to be asleep until the Turtle Miraculous lifted the spell? Right? That was absolutely what she had said. So now…. 

“Adrien.” The deep, and steely voice of his father brought Adrien out of his thoughts. 

“Y-Yes.” Adrien choked. He didn’t know what to say into the small device pressed against his head. What was there to say? Half of Paris was up in flames. 

“Are you alright?” How did he respond to that? Yes, physically- he was fine. Perfectly healthy, no cuts or bruises. Everything was fine. But, emotionally… Emotionally he was compromised. The most perfect day of his life had turned into a nightmare. The sweetest moments he had ever had were crushed by the most horrific thing that he had ever seen. And now… Now he had to respond. He knew from the look in Marinette’s eyes that he had spent too long keeping silent. He was worrying his father, of course. His father didn’t know what was going on anymore than he did… 

Right?

“I-I’m okay.” Adrien responded, moving until he was sitting against the cabinets in Marinette’s kitchen. He took a shaky breath, and chewed at his lip. It wasn’t something that he did, normally. But if ever there was a moment that warranted lip chewing, this was it. He listened to his father sigh on the other side of the phone. 

“Good.” The man said, his voice bordering on something almost gentle. “Where are you?” 

Adrien felt his heart stutter. 

Did he tell his father where he was? 

He didn’t even know what was going on with the whole thing, or why his father was awake, so… What did he say in response to that? Adrien met Marinette’s wide blue eyes and tried to read what she had to say about it. He knew that she could hear the conversation. The world was quiet, apart from his phone call. Gabriel’s voice might be the loudest thing in the room. Marinette’s eyes were wide, and screamed that something wasn’t right. Well, not that anything was particularly ‘right’ anymore. But, it was odd that his father was on the phone when everyone else in the world seemed to have fallen asleep as a result of some kind of powerful spell put on by the turtle miraculous to affect everyone who wasn’t a miraculous holder. Which could mean one of three things. 

  1. The spell wasn’t all that powerful, and hadn’t reached Adrien’s house.
  2. Gabriel Agreste had made a last minute flight to someplace outside of the spells range.
  3. Gabriel Agreste was a Miraculous holder



No… No way. Impossible. There was no way that his father was a miraculous holder. No way.

Right?

“Adrien, are you safe?” Gabriel spoke once more, his tone more worried than before. Adrien had never heard his father worried about anything. It just wasn’t a part of his emotional spectrum. Ever since his mother… Gabriel wasn’t…. He wasn’t…. 

“Respond.” Marinette whispered, placing a gentle hand on Adrien’s arm. 

Adrien searched the girl’s eyes, and swallowed. 

“I-I’m fine. I’m… At a friend’s house…”

“Is it that girl? The one you’re… dating?” Did he have to be so rude? Couldn’t he just accept Marinette? What was his problem? All that was wrong right now, and he cared about  _ that? _

“Don’t worry about it.” Adrien said, his voice a little harsher than he had meant for it to be. 

“Adrien.” The other man snapped, and then paused. “Please.” He said, bringing his voice down to a more controlled level. “I just want to know if you’re safe.” God, the words sounded so genuine. More genuine than Adrien had heard him sound in years. He sounded tired... Adrien waited to respond, waiting for the man to speak a little bit more. Hoping that he had more to say. A small part of him wanted his father to beg. After everything the man had put him through…. “Adrien the bomb went off in the Eiffel tower at 10:00 tonight, and the last thing I knew about you was that you were at your date with the Marinette girl, and then you disappeared. Her house is out of range of the destruction.” There was another pregnant pause. “I hope that you are there.” He finished weakly. “I want you to be safe.” 

Adrien looked up at Marinette again, feeling his body flutter with anxiety. He didn’t know what do feel. Happy? Manipulated? What was his father doing right now? Why was he talking like this. Marinette’s hands were pressed to her lips, and she was watching him with glittering, sad, eyes. She wanted him to respond. She didn’t know anything about his father. She was completely on his side right now, and god… He wanted to be. He wanted to believe the sound of his father’s voice. 

“I’m safe.” He said. “That’s all I’m saying for now. I need to go somewhere, I’ll call you when I can.” His tongue felt like lead, growing heavier with each word. 

“Adrien--”

_ Click _

Adrien hung up his phone, and let his arm fall to his side. He felt completely drained. He… He didn’t know how to feel… Confused? He was certainly confused. He didn’t know what was going on. He didn’t know why his father was able to call him. He felt like he was walking in the dark, groping for something to help him. 

“Adrien…” Marinette breathed, moving closer to him and placing a cool hand on his face. Adrien sighed, leaning into the touch and closing his eyes for a moment, allowing the tears that had welled there to fall before opening them to look at Marinette. 

“Hi.” He choked out. 

“Hi.” Marinette’s eyebrows knitted, but she smiled for him. “What was that?” She asked, her thumb stroking his cheek and her eyes searching his. The blond swallowed, and opened his mouth only to shut it and choke back unexpected and unwanted tears. 

Even if he was denying it, his mind had come to a conclusion that his consciousness hadn’t caught up to yet. No… He knew what it was. That thought didn’t make sense. He just wanted to deny that he had any idea what he could have decided or figured out from that phone call. 

“Marinette…” He breathed. “Why do you think my father is awake right now?” He couldn’t keep eye contact with her, dropping his gaze halfway through his question. 

He knew. 

He knew why. 

“Um…” Marinette started, her voice soft. “I…” 

Adrien found Plagg with his eyes, and noted the pursed lips and crossed arms of his Kwami. Plagg knew too. Living with Gabriel Agreste…. How had he not figured it out sooner? How had he not known from day one? Or two? A son should know his father’s voice…

“Marinette…” Adrien said, finally dragging his eyes back to the woman he loved. He couldn’t seem to look at her straight on, staring bitterly back at her with his head hung just a little. “Marinette,” He said again, trying to keep his voice from cracking. “Tikki said that the sleep spell only affected people who weren’t miraculous holders…”  He waited for her to hear that, watching her face melt from confusion to… to… He couldn’t place it. 

“Oh god…” Marinette breathed. “Oh…” Her lips quivered, and her blue eyes searched the air in front of Adrien’s face. “D-Do you think he...He’s…” She couldn’t finish the thought. 

“I don’t know for sure, but...” Adrien trailed off. He didn’t know anything anymore.

Well… He was pretty sure of a few things. 

He was a Miraculous holder. 

He was Chat Noir.

Marinette was Ladybug. 

He loved Marinette and Ladybug both more than anything in the world. 

Him and Marinette had sex a few hours ago and it was amazing. 

He never got to set up the date he planned for them.

He never would.

A bomb went off in the Eiffel Tower at 10:00. 

10:00 was when Ladybug and Chat Noir were supposed to begin their patrol.

The Eiffel Tower was collapsed. 

Half of Paris was in flames. 

A lot of people were dead.

The world was asleep because of a spell cast by the Turtle Miraculous.

They needed to get to Master Fu’s house.

And…

 

And…

 

Gabriel Agreste…

 

Gabriel Agreste was a miraculous holder. 

 

Gabriel Agreste…

 

Adrien found Marientte’s eyes one more, his chest tightening as he but the thought together. It was just so hard to speak it out loud… The look on her face told him that she knew… That she understood. So somehow, Adrien was able to say it.

“My father,” He said, his voice shaking.  “is Hawkmoth.” 

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Let me know what you thought, and as always! What you want to see next! :)


	3. Adrien Agreste

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Gabriel's POV

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> believer_in_emrys this is for you! I had a lot of fun writing it, and I hope you guys like it!

There were very few things left in the world that surprised Gabriel Agreste. In fact, things very rarely caught him off guard, and it was something that he prided himself in. But when he looked out of the window of his study at 10:00 that night he was shocked to see the burst of red and white flare over the Paris skyline. A bright image accompanied by a loud explosion, and a distinct deep green flash. His steel-grey eyes snapped to the view only to grow wide, as his jaw dropped. He couldn’t remember the last time that had happened to him. But there he was, staring at the city in flames, and a green wave rushing towards him. It was something that he recognized, that light. Something that could only have been caused by someone in particular. Someone that he hadn’t seen in a very long time…

Someone who he thought was dead.

And the fact that it followed the explosion meant a few things, specifically.

The Order was back, and they were behind this.

Paris was in danger.

Peter Fu had cast a spell over every non-miraculous holder in Paris.

The Order was searching for the miraculous holders.

The fact that a spell of that degree had been needed meant that things were far worse than they seemed, and _that_ terrified Gabriel. Terror wasn’t something that was normally in his emotional day to day life, so the pounding of his heart against his chest was nearly overwhelming. The Order…. It had been a long time since he had seen them. It had to have been almost 4 years since… Since they took Lilia. Gabriel felt his jaw clench in response to the thought, the memory, of that night.

_“He’s asleep.” Lilia had said, stepping out of their son’s room with the poise and grace of the ballerina that he had fallen in love with so many years ago. Her bright green eyes were tired and worried, her lovely lips pursed in thought. Adrien had been 14 years old, and had been subject to horrible nightmares throughout the week. They had been woken up by his screaming, and had run to his room to comfort him. Gabriel had stayed outside, watching as Lilia slipped in quickly to comfort their son. Judging by the look on her face, he was fine…_

_“We should have him speak to a therapist.” Gabriel said, looking nervously at the door._

_“Maybe…” Lilia shook her head._

_“He’ll be fine.” The man wrapped an arm around his wife’s shoulders and pulled her closer to him. “Let’s not worry about it, okay? We’ll make an appointment first thing in the morning.” Lilia had nodded, and rested her head on his shoulder._

_“You’re right Gabe…” She said softly. “The nightmares just… worry me.” he could understand that. He was worried about Adrien’s nightmares as well…_

_“Let’s make some tea and go back to bed.” He said, giving his wife’s shoulders a gentle squeeze before parting from her and smiling down at the woman. “Okay?” He asked, searching her eyes. Lilia nodded again._

_“Okay.”_

_So, the two had gone down to the kitchen._

_But when they got down there, the doorbell rang. They were confused but Lilia went to check the door as Gabriel boiled the water for their tea. It was quiet for a moment, quiet enough for Gabriel to grow suspicious after a moment and walk out of the kitchen and find what was taking Lilia so long. But when he got to the door, his heart stuttered to see his wife backing away from the door with wide and terrified eyes._

_“Gabe-” She’d breathed, slowly looking at him as he neared her. “Gabe, hide the miracu--”_

_Cl-Click._

_The door swung open with an eerie silence._

_“RUN!” Lilia was pushing Gabriel away from her._

_And that was when he saw the gun go off. And that was when he saw her fall to the floor. And almost as if it were in slow motion, he called to his Kwami and transformed. His mind was racing. At first, he thought it was a robber, but then he saw the masks and the other men, and he knew. It was The Order. The Order had come for them. There he was, running on pure adrenaline and doing his best to fight with everything his transformation could give. His power came from other people though, creating armies, and at 4:00 in the morning at his personal home… There was nothing he could do. Everything was a blur, but by the time that morning came… He had failed._

_Lilia was gone._

_They had taken her._

_Nathalie had found him, de-transformed, and staring at the open door numbly._

He never explained what happened. He had never tried. He let other people decide what had happened to his wife. He had been so… Weak.

Adrien had never understood.

Gabriel couldn’t bring himself to talk about it. He shut himself away. He let people believe that she left him, if that was what they wanted to believe.

That was what Adrien had wanted to believe.

_Adrien_

Without thinking, Gabriel ran out of his room (How long had it been since he had run?) and towards Adrien’s. He skidded to a stop outside of his sons room, and threw open the door. He was met with silence. No sleeping Adrien, but…

An open window.

Gabriel felt his heart skip a beat for the second time that night.

Adrien had come home from his date, right?

Right?

He should have been paying attention to that. It wasn’t like he could ask Nathalie. The spell had put everyone it touched into a deep sleep. Well, everyone that wasn’t a Miraculous holder. It was a way for them to buy time to fix what had happened.

Still...

Desperation took the better of Gabriel’s mind, and he pulled out his phone. He dialed Adrien’s number, and pressed the device to his ear.

“Please…” He said quietly to himself.

He couldn’t lose Adrien too.

He didn’t know what he was expecting, but…

“Father?”

Adrien was awake. Adrien was safe. Adrien was awake. Adrien was. Adrien was…

The ring.

The voice.

The window.

Adrien was Chat Noir.

Gabriel didn’t know how to feel about that. But right now, he was desperate to know that his son was safe. Nothing else mattered anymore.

 


	4. 4 Years

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> It took me a while to figure this chapter out, but I hope that its okay.

Marinette clung to Adrien’s side as they carefully made their way through the streets of Paris. The night air was flooded with the smell of smoke, and it was eerily quiet, only further reminding them of the fact that god knows how many people were under the spell cast by the turtle miraculous. It had been a necessary thing, but… Some people had fallen asleep on the street or in shops, in their cars…. There were several cars crashed on the streets, causing fires of their own and making the streets look nearly apocalyptic. Seeing all of those people…. It made Marinette’s chest tight. She felt unstable, wishing that she could find some comfort in her Ladybug suit, but knowing that she could not. After a long discussion with their Kwamis, they had decided against transforming. They didn’t know what exactly was going on, but there were a few conclusions that could be drawn from what had happened:

 

_ Adrien stayed quiet after the phonecall with his father, his green eyes stormy and downcast. She had tried to talk to him, but the time was only wasted. He clearly wasn’t ready to talk about what had happened, and it had very clearly pushed him over some kind of edge. So, she turned to their Kwami for the next steps that they should take.  _

_ “We should transform and get to Master Fu’s as quickly as possible.” She said, looking pointedly at her friend, her Kwami, Tikki. The small creature simply shook her head, seeming just as upset as Adrien.  _

_ “We don’t know what caused all of this still. We shouldn’t transform.” She said, glancing over at Plagg who was staring at Adrien with a furrowed brow.  _

_ “Tikki is right.” He said. “It would draw too much attention.” His eyes never moved from Adrien, almost as if he was trying to read the man’s mind. After a moment, he looked from the television screen to the window. “It could be them…” He said quietly.  _

_ All eyes snapped to him, even Adrien.  _

_ “Who?” The blond questioned, his voice cracking a little bit.  _

_ “They… It’s an organization.” Plagg said. “They’ve been around for a long time, and have hunted the miraculous for hundreds of years….” He glanced over at Tikki. “It’s why we were put away for so long… They knew about us…” The red Kwami was staring at him, her eyes shimmering with emotion. Marinette could only assume that it had something to do with the reason why they had been separated from eachother. She knew about that. Her and Plagg… They were two halves of a whole. “And now…” Plagg looked over at Tikki.  _

_ “They know we’re here.” She said softly, seeming to be putting some kind of pieces together. “Oh Marinette…” Tikki said, her small hands raising to her lips. “They were after us… 10:00. They knew.” Plagg placed a hand on her shaking shoulders. “They knew that that was when you went to patrol every night. They…” Her voice caught.  _

_ “We need to get to Peter.” Plagg said, looking at Adrien. “We need to go now.” His voice was urgent, and commanding. Adrien seemed a little startled, but his wide and teary green eyes were still processing all of the information. Marinette couldn’t believe it all herself. She was sure that it was all going to hit her, very hard, very soon, but right now… Adrien needed someone to be strong.  _

_ “Minou.” Marinette said comfortingly, placing a gentle hand against Adrien's back. “Hey, Adrien, look at me. Please.” She searched his face until he met her eyes. At last, he took a shaky breath in and blinked. The small motion made the tears that had welled in his eyes to fall gently down his face. The feeling of them only making his eyes widen and more tears well up in those beautiful eyes of his.  _

_ “Marinette.” He croaked.  _

_ “I know.” She said, her own brown cinching. “But right now, we have to move.”  _

_ Adrien nodded, watching her as silent tears fell down his cheeks.  _

_ She knew. She did. It could have been been the end for them. If they had gone to patrol… It could have been over that quickly. They could have lost each other. Just as they were beginning to find each other. Marinette her own throat close up, and tears well up in her own eyes. Being strong was extraordinarily hard… Especially when she knew that he knew what the city actually looked like. He knew how many people had died in that explosion. She could only imagine.  _

_ Before she could even process it, Adrien’s breathing hitched, and he pulled her into a hug.  _

_ She wrapped her own arms around him, and buried her face in his chest, letting herself let go for a moment. Just a moment.  _

_ They cried together until their Kwamis gently nudged them, and told them that they should go. _

 

So there they were, carefully walking through the streets of Paris. They kept to the shadows, thankful that Master Fu was close enough for them to be able to walk to… Even if the walk was tiring for the emotionally drained duo. They were halfway there, though. Marinette squeezed her partner’s hand, offering him support from time to time as they walked in silence. 

Finally, they made it to a small house that doesn’t quite look right in the midst of the city, but there it was. They knew because they’ve been there before, and as they approached the door it swung open for them to reveal a small man in a red hawaiian shirt staring up at them. 

“Come in. Hurry.” He said gruffly, stepping aside and looking past them. 

Marinette and Adrien hurried into the house, both starting at the sound of the door being shut behind them. 

“Take off your shoes.” Master Fu said, walking past them and into another part of his house. The pair did as they were told, stealing concerned glances at eachother. When they had visited the man before he was gentle and charming. Of course he had every right to be different now… He had been the one to cast the spell. He knew what was actually going on. 

“Come on.” Adrien said, speaking for the first time in a long time. Marinette’s eyes snapped up to his. The beautiful blond was doing his best to offer her a kind smile, holding out a hand for her to take. Se gladly took it, and walked with him into the room that Master Fu had gone into. When there, they saw him sitting at a small table with his hands folded and eyes closed. Tikki and Plagg flew over to him, joined on the table by a green creature who they hugged. It all felt so… Horrible. 

Like they were watching everything from outside of their bodies. 

Like this shouldn’t be happening. 

And it shouldn’t be. 

“Master Fu…” Marinette said, feeling Adrien’s hand tighten around her own. “Please… Tell us what’s going on…?” She was surprised by how weak her own voice sounded in her ears. “Please…” She watched the older man, waiting for a response. 

He didn’t move. 

Not for a painfully long time. 

Finally, he sighed and looked up at them. 

“Sit.” He said, closing his eyes and dropping his head again. 

Marinette looked at Adrien. The blond nodded, and moved with her until they were sitting at the small table with the old man. They didn’t speak, still. It seemed like it was too hard for anyone to find the right words. 

“Is it them?” Tikki asked, placing a hand on Master Fu’s arm. Plagg’s ears perked up, and he moved closer to Tikki as Master Fu’s eyes settled on her and he nodded very slowly. Marinette listened to the small god’s breathing hitch. 

“They’re after the Miraculous again. It’s been… It hasn’t been long enough since they struck last....” Marinette noticed the small glace Master Fu threw in Adrien’s direction before looking back at Tikki. “It’s been all of this Akuma business…” Fu said. “It’s almost like he wants them to come out of hiding…” The man’s fists clenched. “Stupid...”

“Master Fu…” Adrien said, his voice shaking a little. Marinette’s eyes snapped to her partner. The young superhero was visibly tense, and was staring at Master Fu with a sort of determination. “I need to to tell us everything you know.” He said. “Do you know who Hawkmoth is? Do you know who did this? Are they…”

“Connected? In a way. But. Hawkmoth didn’t destroy the city, if that’s what you’re worried about…” Master Fu’s old brown eyes found their way up to Adrien’s, and Marinette watched her boy retreat a little. “You’ve figured it out, haven’t you?” He asked. “You know who Hawkmoth is.” The air was tense. Adrien blinked back tears, and he bit his lip. 

“Yes.” He whispered. 

“He did not do this.” Adrien’s posture visibly loosened, and he looked both relieved and defeated at the same time. 

Adrien’s father… Gabriel Agreste… He was Hawkmoth… Master Fu had all but confirmed it… 

Marinette wished that she could read minds. 

Gingerly, the bluette brought a hand up her partner’s back and dragged her fingers comfortingly over the surface. 

“He didn’t do it.” She repeated for him, letting her fingers slide up into the silky blond hair at the nape of his neck. She felt him breathe out, a shaky and long breath. He was upset, he had every right to be. The entire situation felt like some kind of horrible nightmare that they were trapped inside of with no visible way of escaping. In the blink of an eye, everything had been turned on its head. 

“Who did, then? Specifically.” Adrien asked slowly, bringing his eyes up to meet Master Fu’s. The older man’s face twisted into a brief expression of pain, but there was no hesitation in his eyes as he spoke. 

“They call themselves The Order.” He said. “They are an ancient group…. I believe that they can be traced back to the second or third generation of miraculous users. My studies haven’t allowed me to find as much information as I have wanted to, but… I  _ think  _  that they are fighting against the Miraculous under the belief that there should be no ‘superheroes’ in the world. That’s a very basic explanation for them.” 

“So they exist to destroy the Miraculous?” Marinette asked. 

“Yes.” Master Fu said. 

“And they’ve existed before?” 

“Yes.”

“When?” And with that Master Fu seemed to tense up a little but more, his eyes flickering over to Adrien for a brief moment. Marinette noticed though, and so did Adrien. 

“When?” He repeated her question. Master Fu looked at him, finally, and sighed. 

“Four years ago.” Was the response. Adrien’s breath hitched, and he looked as if his mind was working at a million miles an hour. 

“How long has my father been a Miraculous holder?” Was the next question. Marinette wasn’t sure what was going on, but the tension between Adrien and Master Fu was nearly palpable. 

“37 years.” Master Fu said after a long moment of silence. Marinette heard Adrien’s breathing hitch, a sharp sound coming from his throat. She couldn’t help but freeze at the answer 37 years was… A long time. 

“Was…” Adrien’s voice cracked. “Was my…” Tears were welling in his eyes. “Was my m…” The word hitched in his throat, coming out as more of a hiccup than a solid word. “My mo--” His lips quivered, and Plagg even made his way over to place a supportive hand on his elbow. “My mom…?” He succeeded in ending the question by letting his voice shift upwards at the very end, before it cracked again. The boy looked about ten years old, staring heartbrokenly at the old man in front of him. Someone who could maybe have the answers to what had happened to his missing mother. Marinette felt helpless. There was nothing she could say. She could only continue to run her fingers around on Adrien’s back. Master Fu’s brown eyes glittered with emotion, watching Adrien carefully. 

“She was a Miraculous holder, yes.”  Master Fu responded. Adrien made a small noise. 

“4 years ago…” Adrien choked out. “Master Fu… Was… Were you th-- Was that…. Was my… My mom…. Was it….” He swallowed. “Them?” Adrien couldn’t speak. Marinette had never heard him do that before. What was he thinking? She wished she could know.

“Adrien…” Plagg started. 

“Yes.” Master Fu said. “4 years ago was the last time that we saw The Order. The night that they took your mother.” 

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Really, the comments keep me going. Please let me know what you think!


	5. Always

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> So sorry guys. I'm doing my best to keep up with this, but I've had a lot of things pop up, and I'm dealing with some writers block. Please bear with me, the chapter is short, but here's some fluff.

The day had been long, and everyone agreed that it would be best to sleep before trying to move forward in any way. Everyone was exhausted, and Adrien wasn’t even sure he could continue talking if they tried. Everything inside of him told him that he was at a breaking point, and it took everything he had to simply walk up the stairs to the guest room that Master Fu had offered to him and Marinette. He wasn’t even sure how he got into the room, or when he had laid down on the bed. But there he was, staring up at the ceiling of the guest room- eyes blurred with tears. 

“-Okay?” Marinette’s voice drifted into his ears. Adrien blinked a few times, cursing the tears that decided to fall down his cheeks. 

What had she said?

He was almost certain that she had asked him if he was alright...

“I-” His throat clenched up. It was difficult to speak, and maintain whatever composure he was trying to pretend that he had. Instead, he swallowed and nodded. He could tell that Marinette was watching him, not moving from her spot at the door. He knew that she was trying to think of what to say, probably biting at her lip and nervously toying with her hair or clothes. She was cute like that. But there was nothing that she could do or say. He should tell her that. There’s nothing in the world that will make him feel better, and he just needs to… lay there and feel those things for a little while. At least, that was how he normally went about it. When his mother had left….

When his mother was taken….

Adrien threw an arm over his face, bearing the weight of it down over his forehead and eyes. He felt guilty for accusing his father of driving her away. He felt terrible for bringing it up over and over as the gap between him and his father grew wider with each argument. He felt guilty about resenting her for leaving, for thinking that it was her choice to leave. She had never packed any of her things…. She was just suddenly gone one night… 

It was them. 

The people who had burned Paris. Who had blown up the Eiffel Tower. The organization who had intended to kill him, and Marinette in that explosion. For what? For their Miraculous? They were responsible for this, all of this. And…. He didn’t know what to do, or what to think. Adrien was overwhelmed with a mass of emotions. He wanted so badly to find those people, and destroy them. He was flooded with anger, and sadness, and longing, and despair. 

“I want to kill them.” He breathed, his shaking voice breaking the silence in the room only to produce another moment of silence. Adrien felt the tears slip down his cheeks, falling in quick succession to each other. He had meant it. He wanted to know what it would be like to find the people who had done all of this, and tear them to pieces. The thoughts were so violent… The things that he wanted to do to them. He wanted more than to use Cataclysm on them. He wanted to know what it felt like to feel the flesh rip from their bodies… What it sounded like when they screamed…. The looks of terror in their eyes…. 

He hated the feeling. 

He hated himself for feeling it. 

But he wanted it. 

He wanted to kill them. 

“Adrien…” Marinette began, sitting beside him on the bed. The tears had been followed with sniffling and a few hiccups, the attempts to hold back the cries that threatened to leave his throat. He knew that she was worried about him. He could tell by the way that she touched him, gently rubbing his arm. 

“I do!” He cried, turning to his side. Marinette followed his movement, rubbing at his back instead. “I… I… What…. What is happening, Marinette?” He asked. “When do we wake up from this nightmare? When is it over?” 

The girl was silent, the only sound that filled the room were his muffled sobs.  And he wanted her to speak. He wanted her to say something, anything. He wanted to hear the sound of her voice. But they sat there in silence, the question still lingering in the air. Master Fu’s house was far too quiet, the entire city was far too quiet. 

“I’m sorry.” Adrien said at last. “I’m sorry that I’m…” He didn’t know exactly how to excuse himself. He  _ was _ sorry, but… He was sorry for too many things. 

“You’re wonderful Adrien Agreste, don’t you dare say that you aren’t.” Marinette’s words wavered, sadness all too apparent in the firm tone of her voice. “And,” She said, touching his face and forcing him to meet her eyes. “Don’t you dare apologise for today.” The plead was there, mixed with compassion and sadness. “You’ve done nothing wrong.” It was there, under the words. She was worried that he was apologising for what had happened… For what they had done….

“I’m not-” Adrien started, turning to face her. “I’d never apologise for that. For us.” He reached a hand out, gently encasing her small fingers within his own. “I wish time had stopped for us.” He brought her hand up to his lips and kissed it gently. He loved her. He really, and truly loved the girl in front of him. He loved her bright blue eyes and sweet pink lips. Just the very sight of her threw him into a clam that was unmatched by anything else in the world. Even when he glided through the city. Even on the most perfect of nights. Marinette was better than all of that. She was perfect. And there she was, in front of him, and staring back at him with those beautiful blue saucers and flushed freckled cheeks. 

“Me too.” She said, “I wish we could have stayed in that moment forever.”

Yes. 

The moment of bliss and relief right after their first time. 

God. He wouldn’t trade that for the world. 

“We can pretend.” He suggested. “Just for a little while.” Adrien slowly sat up, pulling Marinette into his lap. 

“Can we?” The girl smiled coyly and wiggled herself closer to him. 

“Hmn.” Adrien murmured, bringing a hand up to her hair and running it through the silky locks. “We can go back to reality tomorrow.” He suggested. “I don’t want to even think about all of it right now.” Blue eyes betrayed a flicker of emotions and a series of questions, but the smile that spread over her lips silenced those questions. 

“We’ll figure it out in the morning.” 

Adrien nodded. 

“In the morning.” He murmured, gently tugging her hair and bringing her face down to his. 

The girl hummed quietly, letting her eyes flutter closed her her lips to part. He would never get tired of that. The girl was stunning, and every little move she made sent warmth coursing through his body. He waited a moment, letting his mind sink fully into the bliss that was Marinette, and then leaned in to her. 

The feeling of kissing her was always new and exciting, even if he had kissed her plenty of times. It would never be too many times, and it would never get old. He could kiss her for the rest of his life. Marinette’s lips were soft, and warm, and he loved the way that she sighed into his own. Her lips surrendered to his, gently nipping and sucking in her own wonderful flow of movement. 

It was easy to forget that anything in the world could be wrong when he had Marinette wrapped up in his arms. Everything was perfect because she existed. Adrien let Marinette take charge of their kisses, and held her closer to him. 

“I love you.” He breathed. “I love you so much.”

Marinette broke away from him, loving blue eyes searching his face. 

“I love you too.” She said. “I really, really do.” 

“It’s always been you.” Adrien murmured, leaning in to press gentle kisses to her neck. “I’ve only ever loved you.” He sucked gently at the space where her neck met her shoulders. 

“M-Me too.” Marinette breathed. She was trembling under his kisses, with her fingers knotted in his shirt. “Always.” 

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> PLEASE tell me what you want to see! I love reading your comments. They are the only thing that keeps me going with this fic. Let me know what you thought of this chapter!


	6. Here, With You.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I sincerely apologize. I will explain everything at the end.

The morning came, even when it seemed like it never would. Marinette sighed at the dusty morning light pouring into the room that had been provided for her and her partner. She hadn’t been able to sleep, she was exhausted but... It seemed like every time she began to doze off her mind was tormented by the sounds of a broken city. Honestly, the night had seemed like it would continue forever, as if the world should only be shrouded in darkness. Marinette had entertained the idea that she couldn’t sleep because everything had been a dream, and she was just waiting to wake up. Some terrible, terrible nightmare. A nightmare about a city destroyed by a mysterious group. A nightmare about Gabriel Agreste and Hawkmoth being the same person. A nightmare about her partner sobbing and shaking as she held him. 

_ At least he was able to sleep.  _

Marinette ran her fingers through his hair and gently wiped sweat from his forehead. 

“Marinette…” The small voice floated up from the bureau beside the bed where Tikki and Plagg were curled up in dirtied shirts. Her Kwami sounded tired. 

“Hey Tik.” Marinette said softly, listening to the sound of her small red friend stretch and walk to the edge of the bureau where she sat and looked down at Marinette with a wry smile. 

“Couldn’t sleep?” Tikki asked. 

“Could you?” She didn’t expect to see Tikki’s eyes become so distant, with that sad smile still on her face. 

“No.” Was the answer that she got. “I’m used to it though.” She gave a little nod. “You should try to sleep when you have the chance, Marinette, you’ll need your strength.” There was something in that statement that implied that Marinette should be ready for a fight at any point. This wasn’t like any of the other battles that they’d had, but for Tikki… 

“You’re right.” The bluette said softly. “I’ll try harder to sleep tonight.” 

“Okay.” 

Silence. 

Marinette swallowed, and looked back at her Kwami. “Has this… Happened before?” She asked, her fingers still sliding in and out of Adrien’s hair. She paid attention to the way that Tikki’s shoulders tensed, and the way that her eyes widened. The small movements were tell-tale enough. This had happened before, this had happened and Tikki was still traumatized by it. “You don’t have to answer.” Marinette assured her. “I… We’ll talk to Master Fu about it.” 

Tikki nodded. 

“He’s awake and making coffee for you two.” 

“He is?” 

Another nod. Master Fu was so kind.

“You should go down and talk to him. There is a lot to talk about, and…”  _ Not enough time to talk about it.  _ Mariette watched Tikki’s eyes flicker. She wasn’t trying to make this hard, but… To see Tikki that way was terrifying. 

“Okay.” Marinette breathed. “I’ll get up.”

And so she did. The girl slowly slid away from Adrien, giving him a gentle kiss. 

“There’s coffee downstairs.” She murmured. Adrien’s eyes fluttered open. 

“Coffee?” The boy perked up, raising himself up into a sitting position onto the bed and smiling dumbly at her. “I would love coffee.” If anyone could make it feel as if the world wasn’t any where close to ending, it was her partner. Even when he had been so distraught the night before, his green eyes still glittered with life and energy. Marinette had to suppress the urge to climb back into the bed and wrap herself around his perfect- warm- form. Adrien Agreste looked like a warm summer’s day, and it was entirely not fair. 

“You’re going to have to get up and come get it with me then.” She teased, reaching a hand out and ruffling his hair. The blond closed his eyes and let out a small hum. 

“You should do that more.” He said, nuzzling into her hand. 

“Hmmmm, later.” She promised. “But for now, let’s go downstairs.” Adrien frowned. 

“But that means that we have to get up.” 

“It means that  _ you _ have to get up silly boy. I’m already up.” Green eyes narrowed at her before her partner reached out and grabbed her hand, pulling her back down into the bed. She let out a small surprised yelp, letting herself get pulled into his arms. 

“Not anymore.” He said, kissing her temple and wrapping his arms even tighter around her waist. He was so  _ warm _ . It wasn’t fair. How had she gone her entire life without him holding her in his arms? Why was she only getting it now that the world around them was in shambles? The two of them sighed. 

“Let’s get up and talk to Master Fu.” She said at last, breaking the serenity of their brief moment. Adrien nodded into her neck. 

“I don’t want to, but we can’t ignore this…  Fuck, Mari.” 

“I know…” She guessed that neither of them could really know what the other one could be feeling. They were both in pain, but different types. “Talking to him will help.” She assured him, doing her best to believe the words herself. 

“Talking to him about my father…” 

“Yes.”

“Okay.” 

___________________________________________________________________________

 

_ Nervous… _

Nervous was not an emotion that Gabriel liked to ascribe to himself. 

Nerves were something for weak people who didn’t know how to control their emotions or the things around them. Gabriel had been able to control his world for so long… Well. Had he? Every time he felt like he had everything under control there was always something that would come and break that dream apart. He would become too cold too fast, and the world would react by throwing itself into a fiery whirl around him. This time, that was not a figurative manner of speaking. So, there he was, standing in front of the very house that he had sorn never to return to. 

_ Peter… _

An old friend. The person who had introduced him to his wife. The person who gave his son a miraculous. He was standing in front of that person’s house as the world around him was filled with the sounds of death and destruction. Smoke peppered the air, and yet from the small house... The smell of coffee… 

He could imagine his son sitting at the table with Peter. Him and his partner, sipping coffee with Peter Fu the way that Gabriel had once sat with his own partner. The woman who would become his wife, and who would bear his child. How had it come full circle this way? What was to happen next? 

Gabriel swallowed, and reached a hand up to press the buzzer button beside the front door. 

He waited. 

______________________________________________________________________________

 

Adrien’s eyes blew open wide when the buzzer went off, his mug- half full- of coffee slipping from his fingers and nearly shattering against the floor. Wayzz, Master Fu’s Kwami, was able to catch it before it hit the ground. The small green creature was far too calm and collected with his kind smile and gentle cautionings. Adrien’s ears were ringing. Who would be at the door? He knew. 

He knew. 

“S-Sorry.” Adrien said, standing up. “I’ll clean that up.” He couldn’t even feel the coffee that had spilt on his lap. He was shaking. He wanted to run. He didn’t want to see who would be behind the door. Master Fu had gotten up to answer the door. Marinette had glanced over at him with her worried blue eyes. Adrien couldn’t tell if time was moving faster or slower than normal. Of course… Time wasn’t running at all. Adrien felt the pressure building up in his chest as he stumbled into the kitchen. 

Paper Towels….

Normal towels…

Rags….

The world was shaking too much for him to find a simple cleaning tool. 

“Shit.” He breathed, clutching the counter. 

He heard the door open in the other room. The faint sound of male voices. 

He wasn’t ready to see his father. 

He wasn’t ready to face Chat Noir’s greatest enemy.  

He wasn’t ready.

“Adrien?”

The blond gasped, and screwed his eyes shut. His fingers dug into the marble counter-tops. 

“Adrien!” 

_ Marinette. _

Adrien’s eyes snapped open, and he found himself looking into the eyes of his partner. Blue eyes that he could get lost in forever…. Blue eyes that had calmed and guided him… Blue eyes that he could explore forever. 

Finally, he could breathe. 

“Mari.” He said, looking down at her gentle and concerned expression. “Mari…” He couldn’t find the words to say to her. Did he want to ask her to run away with him? Did he want her to hold him? Did he want her to confront his father and send him away? Did he want her to hold his hand as he faced his father? 

“You’re not alone in this.” The girl said, her pale fingers caressing his cheek. 

Ah… That’s what he needed. 

Adrien closed his eyes and took a deep breath, leaning into her touch. 

“I’m here with you.” She said. And when he opened his eyes to look at her again it was clear as day that this girl would never abandon him. Her iron will would protect him. Her strength would hold him. Just like he would hold her. Together, they could face anything. 

Even his father. 

Even Hawkmoth. 

Even if they were the same person. 

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I do not like excuses, but I feel that you are owed an explanation as to why this character has come so late. I appreciate each and every one of you who have stayed with me through this. I'm so sorry that it took me so long to write. It wasn't that I had writers block, or didn't know clearly which direction to take the story. I am an honors college student, the event planner for the native american group at my school, and the secretary for my tribe's cultural preservation team. This year has been jam packed with craziness for me. I got the amazing opportunty to play Belle in Beauty and the Beast, and was nominated for a "best actress" award. I have been working on writing and composing an original musical that explains a horrific and extremely important history for my tribe as my honors project. It is mostly completed and I will be producing it come Spring 2018. I found myself in a very difficult place after attending a "change the mascot" meeting at a school near me. We won a vote with the school board and the team will no longer be called "the indians". This is extremely important to my personal tribal history where many of my ancestors were slaughtered while conducting a peaceful ceremony at a waterfall in the town. The man who the town was named after went in and slaughtered countless people. I took the issue up further due to some extremely insulting headlines that were published about the team "Indians raid tonight" and "Town braces for Indian attack" and such. I felt that it was important that the town understood what they were doing. I spoke at the final meeting, and cried when they agreed to change it. Unfortunately, a well known trash website attacked me for this and I received many threats. So many that I have a court case in line, should anything be pushed. I did my best to laugh it off, but was more hurt by it than I will admit to the people close to me. I am not fragile by any means, but it is still a scary thing. In addition to this, this past December I found out that the annual powwow at my school was not going to be held. It's important to the local tribes and small business who rely on this powwow to happen that it did go up. So, after working tirelessly with the native group at my school, we were able to put up with best powwow in years. I still cant believe that it happened, or that its over now. School has finally ended until the fall. I'll be auditioning my shakespeare company's show next week and beginning the rehearsal process very soon. I will do my best to post more regularly. Please continue to encourage me, if you can. It helps a lot to have you guys there for me. Thank you for reading. I hope that I was able to excuse myself a little bit. Let me know what you would like to see!


	7. A Justice League

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> <3

As Gabriel stepped into the room, it was daggers. He was met with the stone cold stares of three Kwami, and if looks could kill the girl beside his son would have destroyed him. He knew the young woman as an aspiring fashion designer. She had been over his house a few times… Marinette. The fact that she was sitting there in the room with them meant that she had been Ladybug all this time. He’d had his suspicions, of course. He had noticed the earrings that she wore. He had toyed with the thought of them being the actual miraculous earrings, but had decided that the girl could very well be a fan- like Chloe.

Apparently not.  

Gabriel’s mind was racing, though he did his best to hide it. It had been a long time since he was in Peter’s house. It had been years… When was the first time?

_ Nervous, tall, and awkward. That was what Gabriel thought of himself. He had always been told that he was a talented designer, and that he was fairly attractive, but… He was 22 and still horribly lanky in his opinion. He felt like his body hadn’t aged past 17. Even in college, he struggled to fit in. He’d kept his head down, for the most part, taking classes on business, marketing, and design. He’d been a straight A student since he started school. It was something that he was good at. He had a lot of focus. But HELL, he couldn’t focus at all in the tiny room at the tiny table, with the most beautiful girl that he had ever seen sitting across from him looking completely confused. Her plump lips were pursed, delicate pale arms crossed over her chest. The other people, two around the same age, did not shine as brightly as her. There was something about this woman… Gabriel suspected that she might be an angel. Beautiful bright green eyes watched the man that they had come to know as Master Fu through a card attached to strange boxes. _

_ “You’re wondering why you are here.” The man said, placing small cups of tea in front of each guest. “It is good to wonder.” He said, placing his own cup down and sitting. “And it is good to receive answers.” He took a sip of his tea, allowing the tension in the room to build a little more. “I will give you those answers.” He took out a box of his own, decorative, like the ones that each person at the table had sat in front of them.  _

_ “You’re going to tell us what these boxes are for?” A boy with black hair, and dark skin asked. He was looking at the box in front of him with disinterest.  _

_ “I assume none of you opened your box?” Master Fu questioned, running his fingers over his own.  _

_ “The note advised us to wait until we saw you.” It was the girl! She had uncrossed her arms, and threw her golden hair over one shoulder. Her fingers were also tracing the box in front of her.  _

_ “Good.” Master Fu said. “It is better to do it together.”  _

_ “Do what?” A girl with bright red hair and angry blue eyes asked. “Tell me this isn’t some sort of weird trap. I assume that we all responded to the same add, right?” There was a small hum of agreement around the room.  _

_ “Several people responded to the add, you all were the ones chosen.”  _

_ What? _

_ Gabriel looked down at his box. Chosen for what?  _

_ “I normally would not do something so unorthodox as put an add up at the local colleges, but…. I believed it necessary to recruit as many as I can as quickly as I could. It is getting out of hand…” He said the last statement quietly, but they all heard it. “Open your boxes.”  _

_ Hesitant, scared, unsure, skeptical, annoyed….  _

_ They all opened their boxes at the same time.  _

_ The room was flooded with light.  _

“Sit.” Peter gave him a small nudge with just the right amount of aggression to let Gabriel know that he was angry with him. Why wouldn’t he be? Gabriel had caused a lot of trouble over the years. His old master, and once-friend had tried to take his Kwami from him after Lilia’s abduction. He’d tried to hide the Kwami’s away and let the Order pass on. Gabriel had openly defied him, and now… He had to face that. 

____________________________________________________________________________

Marinette tensed as he walked into the room. Gabriel Agreste, him and his perfectly tailored suit, and his steely gray eyes. His face was a mask of disinterest. How dare he walk into the room looking as if the world outside wasn’t burning. Had he driven here? Had he walked? Marinette wasn’t even sure what the outside looked like anymore. She was scared to check for updates on the destruction that had been wrought in a single night, in a single moment. Marinette thought ‘how dare he’ with spite once more, before thinking it with a seething fury. How /dare/ Hawkmoth walk into the room and look at the two heroes that he had tormented all these years and be so… so… Apathetic. 

And there Adrien was, quaking silently beside her. Was he angry? Was he scared? Probably both. He was doing his best to not even look at the tall man standing stoically in the doorway. Master Fu had told him sit. Why was he taking so long to do it? So that he could look down on them from where he was? 

“Sit.” Master Fu repeated, catching Gabriel’s attention. “Please.” The request was a command, and at least Gabriel was able to recognize that. Marinette wasn’t sure what the old man was capable of, but she was certain that he was not a force to be trifled with. 

Gabriel Agreste sat down at the the end of the table, his grey eyes flickering over towards his son. Marinette saw his lips part.

“So,” She interrupted him. “You’re Hawkmoth?” She felt Adrien jump a little beside her. 

Good Job Marinette, get straight to the point. You have NO grace. You could have worked up to that. Great. 

The fashion designer looked surprised for a moment at the bluntness of her question before he regained his composure once more and cleared his throat. 

“Yes.” He said. “Though I’m sure there was no question, Ladybug.” He paused, looking at Adrien again. “Chat Noir?” He almost looked…. What was that expression? 

Marinette reached under the table and touched Adrien’s hand, offering hers for him to hold. He didn’t have to respond. He wasn’t obligated to. He found out that his father was the man who was basically trying to kill him all these years. No way in hell did he have to say a single word to him. He certainly didn’t have to respond to his super hero name. 

“Look. Just tell us what you want and go back to your mansion.” Marinette considered herself to be a fairly timid girl, but when it came to defending the people that she loved? She would stand up to almost anything. And the love of her life was feeling threatened by his emotionally abusive father AND psychotic supervillian. She was on high alert. 

Gabriel Agreste’s eyes shot up to meet hers, and his frown tightened. He knew that she was going to be the one in charge of the conversation, even if it wasn’t entirely her place to be. She was determined not to let Adrien get hurt anymore. She didn’t care how Gabriel felt. 

“Well?” She asked, raising an eyebrow at the man. Gabriel’s eyes widened a little before he cleared his throat and nodded. 

“Right. I’ve come to…” He looked at Adrien. “Explain myself.” His eyes shifted to Master Fu’s before his gaze fell onto the table. He reached into his pocket. Marinette tensed. What was he taking out of there? Was he carrying a weapon of any sort? Would he use it? Her grip on Adrien’s hand tightened before his father pulled a small box from his coat. It was a familiar thing, something that the Kwami at the table recognized almost immediately with three small gasps. 

“Peter…” He said, gripping the box tightly before placing it down in front of the small man. “I was wrong walk away with this. The night….” His eyes flickered up to Adrien, and he pursed his lips. “I should have given it to you that night.” 

Marinette was confused. What was he talking about? Why was he handing over his miraculous? How was Adrien responding to all of this? She shared a glance over to her partner who was staring openly at the exchange. 

“That night?” No one expected him to ask. The pained expression that flickered over Gabriel’s face made it clear that he did not want to talk about it, but she could also sense that he would. If he had to. And he did. 

“Adrien, I know that this is all very hard to understand…. And…” He dropped his hands into his lap. “I would like to begin with apologizing… For not telling you… Well… For not telling you anything, I suppose.” Marinette felt her face melting from its firm and angry expression to one of confusion and curiosity. 

“Okay.” Adrien bit out, his voice trembling just a little bit. “Tell me know.” Gabriel nodded. 

“Your mother and I were both miraculous holders when we were younger… There were a few of us. Peter introduced us.” Marinette had never seen Gabriel look so sincere, or sad. How had he changed so quickly? Moments ago, he seemed cold and distant, but now… 

Adrien was gaping at the man. 

“You-You- What? Mother?” She knew that it was a sensitive subject for him. He didn’t like to talk about his mother, and now…. 

“Yes. Your mother had the peacock miraculous. She was… Magnificent. We protected the city in secret with two others.... We thought that we could hunt The Order, like they had hunted us. When Peter found us, he told us of the organization and how they were growing- advancing. He said that we had to find them or they would… Well, pull something like this. We considered ourselves a type of secret service, a super hero group. A Justice League, if you would.” Who knew he could joke?  “But… One by one they found us. We knew how to keep our miraculous away from them, but when they took our friends…. We did not see them again. The night of that your mother was taken…. I thought that if I found the Ladybug and Chat Noir Miraculi I would have the power to find her. You two were more formidable foes than I expected. I knew what I had to do to force Peter to find holders for your Kwami… I lost sight of the bigger picture. I became obsessed. I’ve thought about this a lot. Your mother would have been ashamed of me.” 

Wait…. 

What?

There was a long silence in the room. 

Marinette couldn’t imagine what Adrien was thinking, but… The speech… The story….

“Is this true?” She asked Master Fu. 

“Yes.” 

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Thank you all for staying with me and reading this. I appreciate every single comment that is left. They really keep me going. Please continue to let me know what you want to see, and what you think!


	8. Getting Down to Business

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Sorry that took so long! Please enjoy this chapter! Notes at the end!

 

Adrien’s ears were ringing, eyes wide as he stared at his father in shock. He didn’t know what think, or rather- which thought to focus on. There were too many thoughts- questions- swirling in his mind. He- What? His mother was-- She was taken. Did that mean--? Adrien couldn’t focus on a thought. He couldn’t focus on just one thing. Instead, he was sitting there with his mouth wide open and his eyes feeling numb. The man before him looked much weaker than the father that he had grown to know. Yes, Gabriel Agreste had many sides to him. Once upon a time, he was a sweet and happy man. Then, after that, he became cruel and bitter. Now… Now he was weak. Adrien never thought that he couldn’t seem weak. He was so big and… He was Hawkmoth. Was. 

Adrien looked at the small box that his father had passed over to Master Fu. The box that held his Kwami, and all that he had been for… How long had he been Hawkmoth for? He said that he had started doing this when him and his mother had first met. It must be… Over 20 years. Had Gabriel Agreste been a super hero Adrien’s entire life? And his mother too? They’d hidden it from him? And then…. 

The organization that blew up the Eiffel Tower…. They were a group called the “Order” That had been around for a very long time. They were getting out of control, and Master Fu had gathered a group of superheroes to find and destroy them before they caused even more harm…. Like they had. Could they do worse than this? The bomb was probably child’s play to them. They were after the miraculous. They had broken into Adrien’s house and kidnapped his mother. They had. They were. They. 

Adrien felt like he was going to be sick. He was sure that he was swaying, or spinning or something. He was sure that his mouth was wide open and he was only breathing out of it because his throat and mouth were so dry…. His heart was racing, his skin was crawling, bones aching. 

“They…” He managed, from his state. “Do they still…” Something caught in his throat. “Do they… Have her…?” 

Was she alive? 

Was she alive? 

Was she alive? 

WAS SHE ALIVE?!

Adrien met his father’s eyes. He was shaking, but the question was out there. He had asked. 

“They must.” Was the reply that he got as his father’s steely eyes flickered down to his hands. “I’ve always hoped to find her. All these years….” He swallowed. “I’m sorry. I didn’t know it was you two. I was trying to get Peter to give me the miraculous. He thought I was too emotional. I stirred up trouble and then… I thought that two children had gotten their hands on those miraculous. I became obsessed with taking them and… Using them to get your mother back.” Gabriel shook his head and sighed, letting his body slump. “That was all I wanted, and I became blinded by it.” 

Gabriel was apologizing? His father was apologising? Had he ever….?

“You became a menace to the city.” Marinette spoke up, fire in her voice. “And an emotionally abusive asshole to your son.” Adrien’s eyes widened, shooting up to look at his partner. 

Marinette was so strong… Sitting there with fire burning in her bright blue eyes, and her head held high. Adrien couldn’t believe how strong she was once her sense of justice was triggered. He couldn’t believe that someone as amazing as her could ever doubt herself. 

Adrien felt himself flush a little bit, a rush of anxiety flooding through him as her words hung in the air. Gabriel had flinched back, looking up at her with sad blue eyes. 

“I never wanted that.” He took a deep, shaky breath, and slowly lifted his gaze to where Adrien sat. “I am  _ so _ sorry. Your mother would be ashamed of me.” He shook his head and let it hang, taking a deep breath. 

“I’m sorry Adrien.” The words were very soft. But they were there. As they left Gabriel’s lips they were very nearly a whisper, but still enough to trigger the tears that had welled in Adrien’s eyes to fall. All these years. All of these horrible years dealing with his father, and this way that had he created to cope with the loss of his mother…. All of these years, the only thing that Adrien wanted was to hear the man say that he was sorry. He had wanted so desperately for Gabriel to own up to his mistakes, and now here he was with his head hanging and his voice barely above a whisper. The man that sat in front of him was so much weaker than Adrien could have ever thought was possible. 

“Father…” Adrien’s voice cracked, tears slipping down his cheeks. He couldn’t find the right words to respond to his father’s behavior. Words didn’t want to come out, but tears did. Adrien quickly found himself sniffling and hiccuping like a child. It seemed pointless to try to wipe away the tears because every time he did, more flooded out. He wasn’t sure how much time had passed that he spent crying, but it was very sobering when he did stop and noticed that his father had been crying as well while everyone else sipped their tea. Marinette had a hand resting on his knee, gently rubbing her thumb in circles over it. 

“Tears are the passageway to the healing of oneself.” Master Fu said gently, passing the box that Gabriel had given him back to the tall man. “You will have many opportunities to speak, for now let’s get down to business.”

***********************************************************************

Adrien could barely feel his legs as he walked up the stairs and into the room that had been assigned to both him and Marinette by Master Fu.  The girl was walking behind him silently, but close enough for him to be aware of her presence. He wasn’t sure how he felt, if he wanted to be alone or if he was thankful for her being there. He wanted to get to bed. He wanted to sleep, and to wake up having absorbed and dealt with all of the things that had happened that day.

As if dealing with Paris actively burning wasn’t enough, Adrien also had to deal with the fact that his father was Hawkmoth, that he had been Hawkmoth since longer than Adrien had been alive(which apparently is how him and his mother had met, and why his mother was taken, and why she was still alive and out there somewhere. HOLY SHIT SHE WAS ALIVE), he had to deal with the the rather heavy conversation that had been had about the strategies that they had to play upon. 

There weren’t very many.

In fact, the only really available option would be to awaken two other miraculous holders so that they could possibly stand a chance against the 100+ year old organization that was out to kill them all. Master Fu had a small collection of non- active miraculi, and he was open to suggestions about who they could awaken to take on the abilities of each of those. Of course, they were not given the decisions to make right then and there. No. 

They had a night to think of who they wanted to give the miraculous to. 

Marinette had seemed rather calm about the whole ordeal. 

In fact, she was acting a little too calm. 

“Um…” Adrien began as they entered their room. “Are you okay?” Marinette paused, but didn’t look at him. She walked over to the bed, sitting down for a moment and taking a deep breath. 

“Adrien.” She said softly. “I should be the one asking  _ you _ that.” 

_ Oh. _

_ Right. _

“I’m… Alright. My mom might be alive, so that’s nice.” He tried to sound cheery about it. He was excited, no question, but it had all happened so fast. And there Marinette was, sitting on the bed and looking down at the ground. She wouldn't admit it, but she was frazzled too.  “We’ll fix this.” He said. “I know we will.

“Of course” Marinette refused to lift her chin. 

“Hey.” Adrien stepped forward, climbing onto the bed and to her side. “I’m serious.” He murmured. “I know that we will. We always do, no matter how tough the--”

“This isn’t like any of those times!”

Marinette finally looked at him, blue eyes wet with tears. Her eyebrows were sinched together, lips pouting heavily. She was more upset than he had expected her to be. He had been trying to ease the situation, trying to calm her mind, but… Maybe he hadn’t picked his words carefully enough. Maybe he hadn’t thought hard enough about how she was being affected by all of the things happening in the city. If she was blaming herself for it or not… How was she coping with the constant smell of smoke and the ringing of alarms throughout the city. How was she dealing with the stress of the fact that there were people that were out there actively trying to kill them? They hadn’t stopped at killing innocent civilians. People who were actually dead now. People that their magic couldn’t bring back. 

He hadn’t thought about it that way.

“I want to believe that.” He said lamely. “It helps me get through it… All of this.” He gestured a sweep of the room before looking back at her and letting his smile fall. “It’s scary. I’m scared too.” Marinette’s eyes widened, and she looked thrown. As if she hadn’t expected him to say that. He hadn’t fully expected it of himself either. But if having a heart to heart was what Marinette needed to help her get through this… Even if it helped a small amount… Adrien wanted to try. Marinette looked away again, bringing her legs a little closer together in a small nervous movement. “But, we’re the heroes of this city. Now, more than ever.” He touched her shoulder. “So let’s save who we can.” 

Marinette took a deep and shaky breath, fixing her posture and nodding her head a little. She was trying so hard to be strong through all of this. He knew that she had never really wanted this life. She’d told him about how she tried to give away her miraculous when they first got it. She was always scared that something like this would happen and she wouldn’t be able to do anything about it. Her worst fears were coming true, and it was faster and more intense than either of them could have imagined.

“I want to give a miraculous to Alya.” Marinette said at last. “I… I need her. I miss her.” Adrien bit his lip. He wasn’t sure about the idea of giving a miraculous to another peer. Alya was wonderful, but she was a friend and she was probably safer in the midst of the spell than she would be if she were fighting alongside them. 

Marinette sounded so sad….

Adrien felt a pang of longing for his friend as well. 

Nino….

Was he safe? Where had he been when the spell hit? 

The idea of giving him a miraculous and being able to have him with him was certainly tempting… Adrien knew where Marinette was coming from, but… 

Miraculous holders were being hunted. 

He didn’t want to put his friends in danger.

“We should keep talking about this with Master Fu.” He decided. 

“Yeah.” Marinette leaned her head on his shoulder and let out a sigh. “We should.”

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I hope this chapter was good enough! Please let me know what you want to see! Your comments really do keep me going and I admit to losing spirit several times a week when I sit down to write something new.   
> I realized that I never posted anything about my tumblr or stuff so I'm going to link you guys to some of my things!   
> Tumblr: http://starlenia.tumblr.com/  
> Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/Starlenia/  
> Feel free to be friendly! :)  
> Thanks for reading!


	9. All Was Not Lost

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I'M SO SORRY. I'm not abandoning this story, I promise. I'll finish it. Please read the end notes. >////<

“What do we know about... The “Order?”” Adrien asked, irritated, and pacing in the living-room of Master Fu’s house with a mug of coffee in his hand. The drink was black, bitter and steaming. Adrien hadn’t taken a sip yet of it. He knew that he needed coffee, but he had never had it black before now. It was always some sort of creamed and sugared version, but unfortunately both were absent in this house. The blond cupped the mug in both hands, still, feeling comforted by the pleasant aroma and the warmth that it provided. “Where did they come from?” He asked, “And how are we going to stop them?” He hadn’t slept the night before, and now it was 5:00 in the morning. 

Marinette looked tired, sitting at the table with her own cup of coffee steaming over her face. Her eyelids fluttered open and shut in a desperate attempt at staying awake. She never had been a morning person. As long as he had known her, she would bound into school tired and anxious-having had slept in. It was unusual for her to be awake before the sun. The Kwami were keeping an eye on her, making sure that she didn’t slump face first into the coffee mug, or otherwise drop it. Master Fu watched Tikki move the cup to her lips, smiling to himself a little. Despite that, the man seemed to be listening attentively to Adrien’s questions, answering them when he had the insight to offer.

“Who are they?” Adrien muttered again, rubbing his thumb anxiously against the handle of his porcelain mug. 

“They’re bad guys!” Plagg offered.

“Thank you Plagg, we know that they’re bad guys.” Adrien shot his small friend an annoyed look. The creature grinned and shrugged. 

“Just trying to help.” 

“Thanks.” The blonde sighed, and looked at Master Fu. The old man was watching him patiently. 

“We do not know much about the Order.” He finally said. “Only that they want miraculous users gone. Sometimes they infiltrate court systems, sometimes they are everyday people, scientists, and sometimes they are never heard from. It isn’t until we figure out the connections that they have to the Miraculous that we understand how they were involved in the first place.” Master Fu stood, and moved over to a filing cabinet, pulling open a drawer of files. This seemed to catch Marinettes attention, because she put her coffee down and watched him for a moment. Her lips parted like she wanted to say something, and then she bit the words back. Adrien frowned, not saying anything until she finally motioned to speak again. This time she did. 

“Court cases?” She asked. “Tikki mentioned something to me about Joan of Arc and… I was doing a school project at the time, but we talked about her trial….” 

Adrien had never heard about that before. If Joan of Arc was Ladybug, then who was Chat Noir? He didn’t have much time to think about it because the thought was soon interrupted by Master Fu pulling an envelope from the drawers. 

“She was Ladybug once.” The old man said. “She was a wonderful Ladybug, young and wonderful- Like you. You will not meet your end so early.” He placed the file on the table and sat back down. “This file contains the most up to date information that we have on The Order, but it is only…” He looked at Adrien, his eyes growing dimmer with sorrow. 

“After my mother was taken?” The boy asked. 

“Yes.” 

_ Yes _

Adrien felt his heart leap, and his stomach flip. 

That meant...

That meant that there was information on his mother in that file. 

That meant that there was information on the people who took his mother in that file. 

That meant that he had a chance to learn more about his mother. 

Something that he had never gotten the chance to do before. 

Something that he had been longing to do for years.

Something that would help him to know--

To  _ understand _ what had happened. 

That meant that there was a chance for him to see her again. 

If he could figure it out. 

Suddenly the small file on the desk looked so much bigger to him. That thing, right there, contained the world. It meant that he was one step closer-  _ so much closer _ than he had ever been these past few years- to getting his mother back.  _ He could have his mother back _ . If they solved this, then he could have his mother back.  _ He could have her home.  _

He could have a mother again. 

Adrien swallowed hard, pushing back against the tears that threatened to well at the thought, and sat down at the table. He took a sip from the mug in his hand. 

It was dark, and bitter- 

almost sour on the tongue. 

It was sobering. 

It was perfect.

Right now, he needed to be able to focus- and the sharp taste of the brown-black liquid was enough to let him feel his mind begin to reel. He felt like he was in the middle of a battle against the largest and most invisible akuma that he had ever faced. In a way, he was. In a way, he was about to undertake the most intense and over-taxing journey that he had ever even dreamed of. His heart was thrumming in his chest, the beats seeming irrational and loud in his ears. He was exaggerating the sensation, but was careful to not allow himself to panic. He couldn’t panic. He couldn’t panic now. He needed to focus on the file in front of him. He needed to reach out and touch it, at least. 

But it seemed so far away, so impossible to touch. 

Marinette must have noticed, because she had somehow moved behind him and touched his back. Her coffee-warmed hand settling on the thin fabric of his shirt like a small fire on a much too cold night. She leaned into him, resting her head on his arm and moving up to his side. He was pulled away from the anxiety of the file for that moment. There she was, the girl- the woman- who was his other half. The woman who was his rock, who could ground him even when he felt like he was moving at a million miles an hour. She was there, and she made everything better. 

“Together?” She asked, turning her bright blue eyes up to his. 

He could get lost in those eyes. Beaming suns set against the distant stars that freckled her face. Those eyes could bring him back from the darkest world. He could feel his heart settle into the warmth of her touch, and his mind surrender to the depths of her oceans. 

“Together” He said, reaching out for the file. 

_ Together _

That was where they belonged. They’d had each other’s backs from the start- from the beginning of all of this craziness. They were so small then, but Adrien knew that she would be important to him from the moment he set eyes on her. That she was the one who could save him from the world, from himself…  He knew that she  _ would _ save him. He just didn’t know how many times, and in how many different ways she  _ could _ .   

Here she was again. With the simple touch of her hand on his back. Saving him once more. 

“I love you.”

The words were out of his mouth before he could think about where they were, and what was happening. The sentence was a breath, more to himself than to her. He had gotten lost in her everything. He loved her with his entire being, and sometimes it spilled out. It bubbled from his entire being, and overflowed. He loved her. He loved her more than anything in the world. 

A small rush of red crept into her cheeks, her eyes betraying her surprise at his sudden declaration. Sure, they’d told each other that they loved each other- but this was the first time that he’d said something out of virtually nowhere. He knew that. But… 

“I love you.” She breathed in return. 

And it was pure. 

And it was perfect. 

And it was everything.

“EHEM! Love birds! There’s work here to be done. Just in case you forgot.” The small and annoying interruption of their moment was clearly a certain black cat Kwami. Adrien wasn’t sure that it made him feel better, or bitter that Plagg interrupted their moment- but he decided that he was maybe a little thankful that it hadn’t been someone else. 

“Plagg, SHUT UP.” Tikki countered, shoving her companion. 

Marinette laughed, and it sounded like bells. 

Adrien slipped his hand into hers and smiled. 

_ All was not lost. _

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Okay guys. I'm really sorry that it's taken me so long to get a chapter written. I've been writing and producing a musical. It just finally went up for the first run at the end of March. Here is a link to a website I made for it, if you're interested!: https://1675musicalofficial.weebly.com


	10. Who We Need

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I'm getting back into the swing of it! Thank you for all of your support.

Marinette reached towards the file, her hand guiding Adrien’s shaking one. He had been through so much in such a short amount of time. She couldn’t even comprehend how he must feel right now. Sure, they had talked, but the emotions that were inside of him were something that she couldn’t even hope to pry into. They were his to feel, and hers to comfort. She would be there for him, to help him when he needed to her. She would always be there to place her hand upon his as he reached for the things that scared him. She knew how scared he was. He had just found out about his father being Hawkmoth, after all these years of fighting him. After all these years of almost being killed by him… And then his mother. And the world being frozen in time. And an organization of evil coming for them. And…

They were only 18. 

They felt so much older, but. 

They were only 18. 

There was so much ahead of them.  _ So many years _ ahead of them. So much still to learn. So much still to experience. There was no way that they knew everything right now. Even if it seemed like they had everything figured out. They would look back and think about the foolish choices that they made. They would be proud of the decisions that they made. They were still so young, but they had been through so much, and there was so much more that they would face together. Marinette wanted to face it with him. She wanted to know how it felt to be by his side through all of the difficult decision that they would make. She wanted to know how it felt to be an old woman, with her lover- her partner sitting beside her, thinking about all of the wonderful times they they scared together and comforting each other through the nightmares that would haunt them. 

Adrien’s fingers curled around the edge of the file, and he picked it up, his thumb gliding of the smooth surface of it as if it were something that could fall apart at any second. Marinette let her hand slide up to his arm, stroking his warm skin. She felt him inhale. She felt him open the folder. She felt his heart stutter at the the image of his mother that met them once the document was opened. There she was, a picture clipped to the file. It was an old polaroid, a picture taken in what seemed to be the very house that they were standing in. The image was of her- grinning up at the camera- her tiny blue Kwami nestled into her glowing blond hair. She was stunning, her green eyes glittering up at the camera. Marinette could feel her own heart swell at the image. She knew that Adrien’s mother was beautiful. She’d seen so many pictures of her, but this one was different. It wasn’t posed. It was friendly, and inviting. 

“She’s so beautiful.” Marinette breathed. 

She felt Adrien smile. 

“She is.” 

“That picture was taken right after your 10th birthday, Adrien.” Master Fu said, sipping his tea. “They were still so young, they had so much ahead of them. They loved you very much. They used to bring you here when you were a baby, but once you got old enough to remember what was going on around you they made the choice to come here in secret. That they would hide their powers from you. It was what was safest… For you.” Marinette felt her partner tense for a moment before releasing it with a sigh. “But after I found out about your father’s decent so rapidly after what happened to your mother and the courage and kindness that you exhibited… I knew that you would be a good choice for the Chat Noir miraculous. I would have chosen you despite your family. Plagg would have chosen you too, despite his bashful nature.” Master Fu grinned at the Kwami. Plagg crossed his little arms and let out a loud huff. 

“You’re perfect for the powers.” The creature admitted. 

“You both are.” Tikki chimed in. 

“Yes.” Master Fu said. “Marinette and you both embraced these powers as if they were natural extensions of your own selves. Even if you doubted it at first,” Master Fu looked at her. “Marinette, the choice to give you the ladybug miraculous was one that was very natural. Being the holder of the turtle miraculous allows me not only to slow and stop time, but to see into a person’s essence. What I saw in both of you was the ability to do more good than any holder before you. It was a rash decision, to give such young people such power, but there was no other choice to make once your connection to time made itself apparent.” Marinette didn’t know she had been holding her breath until she tried to take another one. She was anxious. Master Fu could see right through her, into the heart of her anxiety. Addressing the issues that she faced with her early insecurities. 

She wasn’t sure if it made her feel comforted, or more anxious. 

She chose to feel comforted by it. 

“Thank you.” She breathed, catching Adrien’s green eyes watching her from the side. He was smiling at her now, and at took the rest of the breath out of her body. He had that type of power over her. There would never be a time in her life when he wouldn’t just take her breath away with a smile smile or touch. She was pretty sure that she would always,  _ always _ , feel that way about him. 

Andrien gave her hand a squeeze, looking back at the file. 

Based off of the information inside of it, they could assume that The Order had some sort of way of getting their hands on tools to break into places as highly secure as the Agreste household. There was someone on their side who was good with technology. They also knew that there was someone on their side who knew the routine of the two of them- based off of the attack on the tower. They could use explosives, and weren’t afraid to. They had been around for too long to care. They were incorporated into society so well that it was impossible to really tell who was who but… The file did hold a few suspects. 

  1. Joseph Gourdeau 
  2. Adeline Holmes
  3. Brandon Hurteau



That was it. There were blurry pictures of them right before the destruction of the Agreste cameras, and pictures of them in their supposed day to day life. Joseph was supposed to be a vet,  Adeline a pre-school teacher, Brandon a carpenter. They seemed average. They had families. They looked innocent. They looked so innocent. 

Marinette swallowed against the lump that built up in her throat. She knew that they were anything but innocent, that they had agendas and were a part of a cult. Their organization had just destroyed so much of the city… They looked like humans. They  _ were _ humans, but they weren’t innocent. Not when they had done so much to harm other people. Even if they thought that their intentions were good. 

She could feel Adrien coming to similar conclusions in his own head. 

“What do we do?” He asked, sounding helpless, his fingers crinkling the page that held the woman’s family. “How do we stop them?”  _ Stop them.  _ It was so much responsibility. They were real. These were real people, not akumas. They were real. Real humans who were doing these things because they wanted to, because they felt compelled to by their own desires and ideals- not because it was being projected onto them and amplified by Hawkmoth. 

Marinette couldn’t help but feel hopelessly anxious. 

The room was silent. 

Silent but… 

_ Click _

_ Click _

_ Click _

_ Click _

“We work together.”  

The icy voice made Marinette’s mind flare red. She whirled on her heels to face him. 

_ Gabriel Agreste.  _

She expected to see the man that had done so much harm to his son when she turned around. She expected to hate him, forgetting that he had ever even tried to be good. She  _ wanted _ to hate him when she turned around, but… But… His eyes were so sad. 

He was standing in the doorway, looking weaker than they had ever seen him. His jacket was off, and his usually well pressed clothes were wrinkled. The bags under his eyes stood out against the pale contrast of his skin.  _ Did he ever eat enough? _ She had wondered that about Adrien, but… Gabriel was standing there looking like he could be blown over without the jacket to empower him. He looked… He didn’t look like a villain. He didn’t look like the man who had meniced them for the past several years with this Akumas. He didn’t even look them in the eyes. 

He was ashamed. 

She knew that. She  _ knew.  _ But she wanted a reason to hate him, still. 

She wanted him to give her justification for the anger that swelled in her with his cold gaze and apathetic mannerisms. But… He looked broken. 

“Father…” Adrien said, watching the man as keenly as she was. 

The man knelt, bowing his head to the two teenagers. 

“Your power is to bring an end to all of this. Your power is to fix this. I will assist however you need me, and… I know that you’ll never forgive me for all of my selfish displays of… For all these years. I’m not asking that you do. I was trying to do something alone, and I never should have. Please,” He dropped his other knee. “ _ Help me get my wife back. _ ” And when he looked up at them, finally, he looked so desperate. 

Marinette felt Adrien shudder next to her, but she didn’t move. She felt him swallow. She felt him take a shaky breath in. She felt him move forward.

He took a hesitant step towards the kneeling figure before them, and then he moved faster. 

It happened faster than she could have thought, but she she saw Gabriels eyes break with tears, and she saw her boy fall into the form of his father shaking with sobs.

“I want her back too.” He cried. “ _ I want her back too!” _

Gabriel’s eyes squeezed shut, and he clutched at his sons back, holding him as if he could fall away at any moment. The two of them looked like the world was crashing around them and they only had each other to hold onto. Marinette felt her own eyes prickle with tears, her chest tight with small sobs of her own. She wanted her parents back too, but… Adrien and Gabriel had waited so long… But… She wanted her parents to hug her again too. Even if it had only been such a short amount of time since she had found them like that. She wanted them back. 

She decided, then, that she would find Adrien’s mother. 

She would destroy this organization. 

With sobs racking her own body, and the cries of her partner filling her ears, she knew who they needed with them. She knew who to give the miraculous’ to. 

Alya. She would pick Alya.

Nino. Adrien needed his best friend with him as well.

And…

Chloe. 

She was more passionate and clever than Marinette would ever admit. 

And….

Adrien hadn’t seen it yet. But…

The last piece of paper staring up at them named someone important. 

Even without the name, Marinette knew the face. 

 

**Audrey Bourgeois.**

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Thank you for your continued support, and your comments. I cherish each one. I'm so excited to move forward from here. I think I'm finally at a good place to keep writing and guys- I LOVE writing. I love fanfiction. It makes me really happy. Happier than I could even express to you guys. I love this pairing, and I love writing this for you all. I'm really happy and proud of this work. I think that my writing style has improved a lot since I was little. Gosh, I think I wrote my first(horrible) novel at the at of 8 about this fantasy world and two orphaned boys who were taken in by a traveling princes and... It was like 50 pages and size 18 font, and I thought I was the SHIT. I've always loved writing, and having an outlet is good. My brain moves so fast sometimes. Its the only way to catch up with it and calm it down. And... You guys like this story, I think. I'd never leave you hanging. I want you to know that. I'll finish this story before I even think of dropping it. The thought of leaving you guys to never get any closure from this, maybe it's selfish to think you like it that much, but.... It doesn't make me feel good at all to think of just never finishing the story. It would bother me forever. So, you're stuck with me and my random chapter updates, and. Thank you. Please let me know what you think of this chapter!


	11. Cravings

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Remember that this is rated E? Yeah, I do.

The meeting was long, as they discussed the plans that they had to take arms against the Order. Marinette asked all the questions that she could, and Adrien watched feeling a little raw. He was surprised by how tired he was, how drained he was. It was good to be able to rely on his partner to ask the questions. Did they have any apparent weakness? No. Did the spell effect them? Probably not. Did it affect their families? Probably. Were there more of them? Absolutely. How many more? Unclear. And finally, finally she got around to asking the question:

“What does Audrey Bourgeois have to do with this?” That was a question that made Adrien jump. In his foggy brained state, he had nearly forgotten the woman's involvement in the Order. He had known of the woman well, as powerful and influential as she was. His mother had been friends with her, he had seen the short film that they had made together. He remembered the nights when she would come over and hang out with his mother. He remembered the days when him and Chloe would play together while their mothers had brunch. But… Why? Why would she kidnap her friend? What was she after?

It didn’t make sense to him, and by the overwhelming tenseness of his father it seemed like the thought hadn’t even occurred to him. He didn’t know about Audrey Bourgeois’ involvement in the order. He’d let the woman into his house several times. He’d been witness to the times when the woman would wisk his mother away on some day trip or another… Had she known the whole time about the miraculous? Was she just using his mother for… To get to the miraculous?

Was she behind the kidnapping?

_Did Chloe know?_

Chloe was his childhood friend. No matter how much a menace she had turned into in their later years, he still cared about her. He was still worried about how she was doing in the middle of all of this turmoil. Her… Nino… Alya…. Their friends were all in danger, and they didn’t know what to do about it yet. It was yet to really be determined for sure that everything was going to be okay once they settled this. If using the Miraculous Ladybug charm was going to fix the bomb. He hoped that it would. He needed a happy ending to all of this.

“Audrey Bourgeois is suspected to be the leader of the Paris operations within the Order.” Master Fu said heavily. He was watching Gabriel with sad gold-brown eyes, knowing that this was new information to the old ally of his. Adrien felt his father tense as he brought his hand up to his face to rub at his jaw. It was difficult to process, Adrien was struggling. He could only imagine what his father was thinking.

“She was her friend.” The older man whispered. Adrien’s eyes widened at the crack in his father’s usually smooth voice. He was shocked to see the man blink rapidly for a moment, pushing back the tears that threatened to spill from cool blue orbs. His chest tightened with the same Desperation… Confusion… Resentment.  That was the word. He resented the woman. He hated that she could do that to a friend. A _friend_!

“People do not always become friends for benevolent reas--”

“I know that!” Gabriel slamming his fist on the table to silence the older man. His arm shook with the tension holding his fist to the cool wooden surface. Gabriel still did not look up at his old teacher, his hand rubbing at his brow. “I’m an adult. I work in a cutthroat industry. I _know_ and am _intimately_ familiar with the concept of befriending someone in order to _use_ them. I’ve done it.” His voice broke again. “But I never suspected her. Emilie and her were friends since _before_ this. They were friends from _school_. There are pictures of them as teenagers, having sleepovers and... And…”

Adrien could imagine it with the same heartbreaking sorrow that his father’s voice was betraying. He knew the stories, he’d heard stories of them growing up. He’d heard the glimmer of love in his mother’s voice when she spoke of her friend. He’d seen the pictures of the two of them with their blond hair splayed over pillows, radiant smiles on their faces. He’d seen the pictures that Audrey had taken of his mother when they were younger, and he’d heard stories of the promises that they’d made together to make it to the top. To become a famous model, a famous actress, a famous director, a famous photographer. Sought after through all of Paris… It was in his moments of resentment of his own modeling and acting career that Adrien would remember how fondly his mother had talked of her childhood aspirations.

That’s what made it hurt so much.

Adrien closed his eyes, letting tears slip from his eyes with a shaky breath.

Even with Marinette’s hand squeezing his knee with gentle fingers, he…

Audrey couldn’t have been akumatized.

They couldn’t fix it with breaking some stupid charm.

They couldn’t fix it with puns and teamwork.

They couldn’t fix it because it _wasn’t magical_ …

**_It was her choice._ **

The tears tasted salty on his lips, and Adrien drew in another shaky breath. He needed to clear his thoughts. He needed to get out of his head. He needed to figure out how to solve this instead of sitting in a black cloud of despair and hopelessness.

“Then there’s a chance that Emilie is safe.” Marinette said confidently, breaking the silence at last. “Even if her miraculous was taken, or whatever happened that night… Audrey probably wouldn’t have hurt her. Especially if she has the power in this situation.”

Adrien looked up at his partner, feeling his father staring at the woman with the same daring hopefulness. Marinette’s hair had been loosed from it’s pigtails for the morning, falling around her face in curls that belonged to her father, and creating a halo around her cheeks. Her blue eyes were alive with fire, and she was aglow in the morning sun that streamed through the window. She looked like an angel. An angel of justice. An angel of hope. An angel that radiated everything that the world needed right now. Everything that Adrien needed right now. She was standing from her seat, her coffee gone, and her palms pressed into the table. She looked like a superhero, and she was, and Adrien remembered how very much he loved her. He breathed out another shaky sob, hiccuping in hope.

From the flames burning in her eyes he could tell that Marinette had a plan.

“Master Fu, I know who I want to choose for the Miraculous holders.” She said, catching them all off guard. “We need the support, and we need people that we can trust, and… We need people who are strong and courageous. Alya already knows how to be Rena Rouge. She’s my best friend, and I can’t do this without her. And… Nino is clever and I’m confident that given the chance he could figure out how to hack into their network.” It was true. Adrien’s friend had been expanding his technological world, trying to get into college for something in addition to his already successful DJ business. Hacking had been right up his alley, and he’d excelled in it quicker than anyone had expected. “And….” Marinette continued, her voice wavering more than before. “Chloe is still in contact with her mother. She knows where she is. She could really help us here.” She took a deep breath in, her voice steadying. “She needs to be a part of this.”

Adrien’s eyes widened.

Marinette was right.

Marinette was usually right.

Marnette was incredible.  

“Then it is your job to get them here safely.” Master Fu said, standing from his position at the table. “Once they are here, we will talk to them, and we will make a plan.” He didn’t need to tell them to get ready. Adrien was already on his feet, ready to leap into action.

“Tikki,” Marinette breathed. “Spots on.”

*******************

So there they were, outside of Alya’s window. They decided to go together to the houses, minimize the risk of something happening to either of them. It was all Marinette’s plan. They had left Adrien’s father at the house with Master Fu to talk, and prepare. It was their job to get their friends on board for this, and they decided that Alya should be first. She was the most experienced, and… She already knew who they were.

That didn’t mean that Adrien wasn’t nervous though. He was extremely nervous, to be clear.

“Come on Kitty.” His partner said, climbing through the window of her best friend’s room.

“Right.” Chat Noir breathed, stepping through behind her. The room was dusty and cool, and dark where the sunlight didn’t hit it, and… Alya’s bed was empty, the desk was abandoned. Marinette frowned, and opened the door to the living room. He followed her, noting the barren room. Ladybug made another noise of frustration, and flung open the door to what she had called the ‘twin’s room’. Two children that Adrien remembered being much smaller laid in bed, but there was no Alya to be found.

“What the hell.” Marinette cursed.

Adrien could see that she was worried. He could tell that she was worried. Her friend was supposed to be safe in her house, with all that was going on outside… It would have been convenient if Alya was in her house, but unfortunately nothing was easy right now. The two of them walked back into Alya’s room, towards the window that they’d come in through. Marinette’s shoulders were visibly slummed with worry. He knew that she was worried about her friend… But finding her wasn’t out of the question, and he had an idea about where they might find her.

“Don’t worry bugaboo.” He said, stepping forward and resting his hand on her shoulder. “Remember what we were doing right before this?” He was trying to keep calm, and flashed her a smile as he watched her lips tug up in return.

“Of course.” She said.

“It’s possible that our friend had a similar… craving.” He got lost in his memory for a moment, letting his fingers slip from her shoulder, trailing down her arm until they curved over her hand, thumb stroking the thin fabric of her suit. He found his eyes trailing her figure, having let his mind wander so freely. The fabric of her suit was incredibly thin, he knew it. The fabric of his own was so lightweight that it hardly ever felt like he was wearing much of anything. It was comfortable, and agile, and goddamn sexy. He’d spent many-a-year watching Ladybug’s figure grow and transform. He’d watcher her hips fill out, her breasts…. Adrien swallowed as he dared to move even closer to her, admiring every curve with a silent reverence. His lady was stunning.

“ _Minou_?” She breathed, her voice soft through parted lips, and Adrien realized how much he wanted to pull her into him and kiss her. He could feel his shoulders rising and falling faster than they had been with the growing heat in his breath. It had been too long since he’d tasted her lips. And now, it was midday and time was frozen, and maybe he could take a moment to… He felt his tongue glide over his bottom lip before he caught the sensitive flesh between his teeth. He was surprised as a thrill went through him at the sight of the woman before him mirroring his expression, her face so open and vulnerable. She was looking at him with blown pupils surrounded by blue slivers, and he dared to let his other hand move to find her hip. He watched her, and trailed a claw clad finger up her back. He tried to find some reason in his mind to not dip forward and kiss her when she shivered just a little under his touch.

“ _My lady_ .” He purred, lacing his fingers into her hair, and clutching gently at the nape of her neck. His partner’s lips parted in a heated gasp, and she _watched_ him. He leaned in slowly towards her, holding her hair and her hip and pulling her body against his. She melted into the touch, eyes fluttering closed, and Adrien snapped. The fire in the pit of his stomach urged him forward, urged him to kiss her with everything that he had to give her.

So he did.

He pushed forward, even more until she was flush against him and he could feel her heart beating through the fabric of her suit. He dipped his head, and kissed her like it was the last thing that he would ever do. In that moment, it was like lightning struck his very core. He was lost in it, forgetting himself and everything around him with the vibrant touch of her lips to his. It wasn’t long before she was panting into the kiss, her small figure trembling as she tangled her fingers through his hair. He pulled away for just a moment to gaze at her, _god she’s perfect_ , before kissing her once more.

And if the first touch of their lips was electricity, the deepening of that kiss was the opening of the heavens. Adrien felt her sigh into the kiss as if she’d been waiting for him her whole life, and she reached out to touch him, fingers leaving flaming traces over his suit. He gasped into her lips, fingers curling tighter in her thick hair. He cursed the pigtails, wanting to fun his fingers through the soft tendrils and curls that he really should have spent more time admiring that morning…

 _Tomorrow_.

When he woke up beside her tomorrow he would make sure to properly worship her radiance in the morning sun. But, for now… For now, he was going to worship her in the afternoon light. Because he could. Because they were there, panting against the wall of her best friends room, moments from the bed. Chat Noir deepened their kiss, pushing Ladybug slowly backwards while his hand move down to cup her ass for a moment before his fingers floated over her navel and she gasped under his touch, a small whine coming from her throat. He kissed her again, kissing her lips and her jaw and her neck. Her pulse raced under his tongue, and she moaned as he moved lower still, daring to kiss across her collar bones. He let his tongue trail further still, her shivering form giving him all the permission he needed to kiss across her breasts. He could tell her to de-transform, but it was fun this way. He could tease her more if he wasn’t touching her directly.

She bit back a moan as he was able to bite at the hardened nub on her breast, and he felt like he was going to explode. He dragged his teeth over what he could, amazed that he could get this far in their suits. He’d never seen her nipples harden in the suit before, but here they were and he _loved_ it. She gasped again as he let his teeth drag away with a circular flick of his tongue. He could feel her holding back moans, small wimpers escaping her lips, and he wanted to hear them. He kissed his way back up her torso, until his lips brushed her ear and she let out a high pitched whine.

“ _Adrien_.” She breathed, her voice sounding surprisingly close to a warning. “Is this-”

“A good idea?” He chuckled, biting at her neck. “Why not? Time is frozen. No one knows we’re here, and… You can be as loud as you want to princess.” He whispered before catching her lip’s in his own once more, his fingers finding their way between her legs until she was shaking under him her whimpers encouraging him to bite and kiss her further.

“ _Ch-Chat_ \--!” She gasped.

“My lady.” He stroked his fingers over the fabric of her suit, and she moaned again. She was so beautiful, flushed and hot under his touches. She was flawless, and powerful, commanding, _stunning_ . He loved her with everything that he was, and for some reason that made him feel like he wanted to taste her even more. He wanted to consume her everything. Finally lifting her from the wall, he held her at his hips, loving the way her legs curled around his torso, before pushing her into the mattress. Her eyes glittered with desire, and she was biting her lip and holding onto him as he pushed her down. He felt himself shudder under her touch, when he landed on top of her, pushing her backwards onto the bed to move fully over her small frame. “ _Marinette_.” He breathed, hot under her gaze.

She was absolutely flushed, freckles disappearing under the heat in her cheeks. Her lips were red and swollen from kisses, pupils blown, body trembling. She was everything that he’d ever fantasized about. Ladybug, weak under his touch.

_Fuck_

Adrien swallowed, and kissed her again. He could really feel her melt into him now, her legs wrapped around him enough to allow his erection to press into her crotch with a dizzying rush of need. He moaned, pressing deeper into her, holding himself over her with one hand while the other was free to explore her body. And he touched her like he need to feel her under him, and she moaned like she needed _him_ , and it was nearly too much. He broke their kiss, kissing down her body again until she let her legs fall away from him, splaying themselves wide and trembling as he moved lower. Her fingers caught in his hair, and he bit at her stomach.

“Sh-Should I-” She began.

“No. Keep it on.”

“ _Fuck.”_ She hissed. He chuckled, moving lower still, until he was between her legs bracing himself while kneading at her breast. He kissed her thigh, working his way down from there. He wanted to prolong it. It wanted to feel her shivering with need under his touch, her moaning music to his ears. He wanted to absolutely destroy her.

“Ladybug.” He whispered reverently, watching her as he finally breathed over her womanhood. She met his gaze with trembling lips. “ _My lady_.” He said again, reverently pressing a kiss into the fabric of her suit. Her head fell back swiftly, her hips bucking under the kiss, and her fingers twisting more in his hair. “You’re beautiful.” He said, kissing her again.

“Chat.” She hissed.

“You’re amazing.” He repeated the motion, kissing her slower this time.

“ _Chat_ ”

“I love you.” He said, smiling, and buried his face into the space between her thighs.

“ _CHAT_ ” She almost yelled as he kissed at her over the fabric, letting his tongue explore her as much as he could, sucking at where he _knew_ was her clit based off of the way that she writhed into his mouth. He grabbed at her harder, picking up his tempo, encouraged by her moans. He’d fantasized about eating out Ladybug. He really had. And now he was. But even better. She was Marinette and Ladybug, and she was _his_ , and she was very nearly screaming his name in the light of day.

He kept going.

He kissed her until the noises that fell from her throat were ragged, and incoherent.

He let his tongue experiment with pushing into her as much as he could.

The fabric of the suit prevented him from getting too involved, but he was happy with the way that this was going just the same and she seemed to be enjoying it too.

He spared a glance up at her writhing form.

_God_

She was everything that he wanted, and more, and when they were older he would ask her to marry him. And he would do this to her everyday if he could.

_Marinette Agreste_

Would she go for that?

“CHAT, I’m-- I’M--” She grabbed him, shocking him out of his daydream as her hips shuddered under his touch. _So soon?_ He kissed her through her orgasm, relishing the tiny whimpers that fell from her lips and the way that her hips shook violently under his kiss. He could feel her pulsing under his lips, and _fuck_ , he wanted to be inside of her. But they didn’t have condoms here, and this was fine. It was enough to see her like this. To _hear_ her like this. That was what he really wanted. It was something that they couldn’t do at Master Fu’s house. He would hear them, but here? The world wouldn’t bat an eye at his lady screaming under the heat of his tongue.

The way that she pulled at his hair let him know that he should move away, so he kissed her one more time, and pulled away from her to hover over her and watch her overindulged expression. Her head was tilted to the side, her nipples still erect in her suit, and her hair slayed messily over the sheets of Alya’s bed. Her eyes were shut, and she panted heavily under him.

“You’re perfect.” He whispered reverently, capturing trembling lips in his own.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Sorry it took so long for me to write this one guys. It's much longer than the other chapter so. It's basically two.


	12. We Need You

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> So my computer broke and I had to wait for it to be fixed while I also dealt with my yearly Shakespeare show. This year it was Romeo and Juliet! If you want to check out some pictures here they are: https://www.facebook.com/pg/KestrelsCallPhotography/photos/?tab=album&album_id=1589768601132035  
> Thank you all so much for your patience, you're all so wonderful. I'm sorry it takes so long to make a new chapter sometimes. Your comments really do keep me going <3

“How is he so perfect?” She breathed to herself as she watched him soar over another roof-top, as they made their way to Nino’s house. The years had been kind to Adrien, she’d watched him grow as his classmate and then all over again as her partner. You bet your ass she had collected all of the “shirtless” Adrien Agreste photoshoots, not in a creepy way- but- just- His daily routines, and his work as Chat Noir had kept him in  _ very _ good shape, and she could confirm that with full certainty now that she’d had her front row seat. It wasn’t just his body- his face had shaped out well, and he kept his hair neat and messy at the same time, but somehow it was even cuter wind blown as Chat Noir, and oh  _ God _ she was super in love with him and it was pretty bad wasn’t it?

Not that a future with him would be terrible. In fact, she had never been able to imagine a future without him in the first place. From the moment that he had become her silly, absolute  _ dork _ of a partner, she was sure that he would be in her life forever and she was perfectly okay with that.

And if they found a way to fix this, all of this, then maybe they would have a future together here…. She’d get her degree in fashion design, and he would get his in some sort of science- he loved science- and they would get an apartment together and eat food together, and… Maybe one day he’d--

“My Lady?” Marinette snapped out of her daydream, finding herself standing on the balcony of Nino’s house, with the window open and waiting for them to climb into the living-room. He was smiling at her with his perfect teeth and glowing eyes, and she sighed. 

_ Back to work.  _

“Let’s hope that they’re here.” She said, hoping that they would actually be in the living-room watching something and not in Nino’s room in any sort of compromising position. It would not be fun to wake them up from that like- _ oh hey guys, a bomb was set off in the Eiffel Tower, and I know you don’t have clothes on but the world is frozen in time right now and also it’s us Nino- hey! Marinette and Adrien as your friendly neighborhood superheroes. Yes, Alya knew.  _ Yeah, that would not be ideal. 

Chat Noir let her slip through the window first, following behind her. The room was dark aside from the flashing lights of Netflix on the TV, and  _ oh thank goodness _ , Nino and Alya sitting wrapped up in a blanket and tucked into eachother sleeping soundly. 

“They’re here.” Chat said, taking out the Miraculous’ that they’d been given for their friends. “Are you ready?” He held out the fox pendant for her to take, waiting as she nodded and reached out for it. She was ready, sure, Alya already knew. It was just that they would have to tell their friends about what happened AND get Nino up to date about what was going on, and that was kind of daunting. But at least they had clothes on. 

“Let’s do this.” She said, moving around the couch until they were facing their friends with the miraculous’ in their hands. They took a moment, and then gave each other a nod before leaning down and placing the charms in their friends hands. 

At first, nothing happened, and then…

Green and orange lights flashed through the room, raditing from the charms in Alya and Nino’s hands. It was nearly blinding, and the two of them had to look away for a moment until finally the glow dimmed and went out to the sound of soft gasps from the holders. 

“Ladybug--”

“Chat Noir--”

“Alya.” 

“Nino.”

“What’s going on?” 

The question came from both of them, and it was perfectly reasonable of them to ask it, but the implication from each of them was different. Alya knew half of the story already, but Nino was completely in the dark. Marinette took a deep breath in, and began to explain. 

“Alya, Nino,” She started. “We need your help. Paris is in trouble and we can’t do this alone. We are giving you these Miraculous’ to help us save the people. This is a bigger threat than one we have ever faced before, it is going to be hard to take in and it is going to be a shock to hear, but please try to remain calm about it, alright?” She swallowed, searching the faces of her confused friends. 

“What is it?” Alya asked, eyes narrowing. 

“There is an organization called The Order that is trying to destroy the Miraculous’, and they have attacked Paris. There is a sleeping spell on the city in an attempt to buy us time. This organization has been around for centuries, and this is not the first time that we have seen them… Nino…” Chat took a deep breath in. “Plagg, Claws in.” And in a flash of green, Chat’s suit was gone and in it’s place were the every-day clothes of Adrien Agreste. 

“Tikki, Spots off.” Marinette trusted that her partner had the right idea. 

“ADRIEN?!” 

Pink. 

“MARINETTE?!?!” Nino’s eyes were wide. “WHAT.” 

“It’s us.” Marinette said gently. “And those…” She gestured to the couples shoulders. “Are your Kwami, Alya you know Trixx… Nino, this is Wayzz” 

“Alya!” Trixx said, hugging her friend. 

“Trixx!” The two looked happy to see eachother again. It had been a while since they had needed to call on Alya for her help as Rena Rouge, and it was touching to see them so happily reunited. 

“Hello Nino, I am Wayzz.” The small green turtle bowed slightly to his new holder. “I look forward to our partnership.” 

“Uh… Yeah….” Nino still looked lost, he blinked a few times, adjusted his glasses, and frowned. “Okay… Um… Am I dreaming?” He looked back over at Marinette and Adrien. 

“I wish.” Marinette said. “I’m sorry that we have to do it like this. I know that it is sudden, but we are all in trouble.” And so, she filled them in on what was going on. 

*******************************

 

“Why Chole?” Alya asked, obviously annoyed at the concept of teaming up with their former blond bully. Marinette wasn’t happy about either, but…

“We believe that her mother is the leader of this branch of the organization.” 

“WHAT?” Nino asked, eyes wide. 

“Yes, her name was on a file along with the other member information that had been collected, and well… If that is true, then Chloe should be a part of this too. Besides, I know that she was a menace to our class, but she’s been my friend for a long time and… She isn’t actually a bad person… She’s grown, if you can believe it. She just… It’s important that we have her help in this and I hope that you guys will be able to accept that.” 

It was clearly a lot to take in. It had been a lot for them to take in, and they’d had a little more time to process it than their friends. But the real trick was going to be getting the pair outside and having them actually see the destruction that had befallen Paris in such a short amount of time… Marinette worried her lip, sitting in the armchair as Adrien paced around Nino’s living room. 

“We should get going,” She said at last. “We don’t know how much time we actually do have.”

“Right.”

**********************

And so, they found themselves in Chloe’s room having agreed that Adrien would be the person to talk to her, and… She actually took it surprisingly well, without too much freaking out, and in her own stubborn way revealed her excitement to be working with them as a superhero- even if it was only for a little while. She had been perfectly fine with Adrien being Chat Noir, in fact she said she figured it was because who else would be such a dork in tight leather, but Marinette being Ladybug? She was not super okay with that. 

“I should have known.” She huffed. “To think I’ve been your biggest fan for… Years?” she crossed her arms and frowned for a moment before laughing. “Oh well.” She said, sitting down and crossing her legs. “So tell me about this organization?” 

And so they did… 

“And we think your mother is leading them.” 

_ This _ did not sit well with the blond. 

“My  _ Mother? Adrien?”  _ She hissed, defensive and a little flustered. 

“Yes…” He said softly.

“Her name was on the file, and she… She was in the perfect position to…”

“To kidnap your mother?” Chloe was clearly upset. “They were  _ friends.”  _

“I know…” Adrien said softly. “I know Chloe, and I want to prove it wrong, but there’s only one way to do that and we are going to need your help so,  _ please.”  _ He sat down beside her, looking small and hurt like a lost kitten… “I didn’t want to believe that my father was Hawkmoth.” He said. “But he is, and we’re dealing with that? But…. We need you to deal with whatever is going to happen too, and help us at least  _ try _ to save Paris… Okay Chloe? Please.” The two looked at each other, and then Chloe sighed a shaking breath. 

“I don’t know if I could… If I could stop her…” She said at last, her voice small and quiet. 

“We’ll all be together, you won’t be alone.” He said, putting a hand on her shoulder. 

Chloe looked so small in that moment, looking up at Adrien with tears in her eyes. Marinette wasn’t sure what the girls relationship to her mother was but… 

“Okay.” She said. “I’ll do my best.” 

Chloe really had grown.  

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Please leave your thoughts! I'd love to hear from you. Again, it really does keep me going. I love writing, but I also love to know that people are reading the story! Thanks!


	13. Only Thing Left To Do

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> This chapter is short! But I figured that it might take me a while to figure out what to do about the finale so I wanted to get this to you at least.

And so, they were all sitting at the small(and now quite crowded) table at Master Fu’s small house in the center of town. It had occurred to Adrien that it was odd, if you would have asked him even a week ago if this would have been possible-- he would have told you no. He would have told you that Hawk Moth was evil. He would have never imagined Marinette and Chloe sitting next to each other civilly, while the three new miraculous holders frew more familiar with their Kwami over a cup of steaming tea. He would never have imagined having a functioning relationship with his father once more. But here he was, and everything was starting to look up… Somehow. They only had to figure out how they were going to bring down The Order. 

“So… We don’t know where their headquarters is?” Chloe asked, frowning at the group. 

“Not exactly.” Master Fu said, “But we do know that they are aware that Ladybug and Chat Noir are active miraculous users, and that they are prepared to attack them. We have the advantage of them being unaware of our partnerships…”

“But, uh, how are we gonna find them?” Nino asked. 

“Oh! Do we let them find us? Like, we could make a big fuss, or put up some sort of bat signal, and then when they attack, we jump them!” Alya voiced, looking confident in her suggestion and earning herself a smile from Trixx. 

“It would be better to find them.” Gabriel said. “They are a powerful group, and it would be better to have the biggest advantage that we can manage.” Everyone looked up at the man, knowing that he was right but also knowing that it was frustrating to wait and that waiting meant that something could always go wrong. 

“They could find us here.” Chloe said. “If I was them, I would be aware of the only house in Paris with some activity in and around it  _ and _ ” She stated. “If my mother really is leading them I am  _ sure _ that she has access to all of the security cameras on the streets. They would have seen us jumping around. They would know that we are here, and they would be preparing another attack.” Well, it was logical. Everyone looked uncomfortable with the idea, but it did look like they were considering the reality of the blond’s statement. 

“Shit.” Alya said. 

“My thoughts exactly babe.” Nino swallowed, and rubbed at the back of his girlfriend’s hand with his own. 

Adrien could tell that his friends were upset and anxious, and he really wasn’t sure what he could do about it. Chloe was probably right, and that was a more immediate threat than they wanted to believe they could be facing. With something like that being true, they could attack Master Fu’s house at any moment and they would be completely unprepared for it. 

“So we have to find them.” Marinette said. “We don’t have a choice.” She worried her lip. 

“But how?” Chloe frowned. 

“If I may,” The Bee Miraculous, Pollen, offered. “Given an object that belonged to someone, I could track them to their current location… As long as the object has enough of the persons energy still inside of it.”  _ This _ was helpful information. Everyone’s attention shifted swiftly to the small black and yellow creature, and chloe beamed at her friend. 

“How about something that the person touched?” She asked, happily reaching into her purse and pulling out a handkerchief with gold embroidery in the shape of an A.” Everyone looked a little nervous at first, but the Kwami reached for it and held it for a long moment before smiling. 

“I’ve got her.” The creature offered. “There is an office building on the south side of Paris that I am getting readings from.  There seems to be a large group of people that have been there recently… It has a garden on it’s roof…” 

“Let’s check it out!” Alya said, jumping to her feet. 

“Alya,” Marinette said. “These people are a treat. They are actually dangerous. We have to be careful if we are going up against them. We have to be prepared.” 

“Right.” 

*************

There wasn’t enough time to teach everyone all the things that they needed to know, but the group was able to grasp their crash course in super-heroing well enough. It wasn’t like they could leave Paris like this, and it wasn’t as if they could wait for the group to attack them. If they wanted a solid chance at finding and saving Adrien’s mother, then they had to act quickly. They had to be clever, they had to be careful. They had to work together in an impossibly accurate way. Adrien wasn’t 100% sure that they would be able to win this, but he knew that they had no other choice, so. This was their plan. 

First, Wayzz would let the time spell go. 

Then, in the chaos of everything, Hawkmoth would Akumatize a group of heroes to help them. He had never tried to Akumatize more than one person before so it would be a hit or miss on that part, but even if that didn’t work they would at least have the cover of one person. If it did, several would descend on the building that Pollen had found. If all else failed it would seem as though the Akuma was what had ravaged the city, and that was something that the citizens would be able to cope with better. 

Chloe would call her mother, panicking and would ask if she could pick her up- that she didn’t feel safe. 

Then, on cue from Chloe, they would strike. If it took too long, they would move without her and hope that she would be able to meet them as Queen Bee.

Pollen had been able to narrow down the area where they were keeping Adrien’s mother, which he honestly didn’t know how to deal with. They would focus on rescuing her first, and then they would attack once she was safely out of range. 

The Akuma would descend. Marinette and Adrien would work together to destroy as much of the research and weapons that they had created as possible, and… 

Hopefully it all went more or less according to plan. 

They didn’t have the time to work out something better. 

Holding up the spell was actively hurting Wayzz. 

That was all that they could do now. 

 

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Thank you all for your comments and continued support. I know that I have made this a little difficult for you, but it is nice to know that there are still people reading and enjoying this. I am hoping to be able to wrap this story up by the next chapter. My next fics won't be this complex. Haha Please let me know what you want to see! Your comments really and truly do keep me going. <3


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